Naruto:Rise of the Xenonin
by HellkingUzumaki
Summary: A reposting of Naruto:Xenonin by Raja-Ulat. Rated M for blood and gore.
1. Chapter 1

**Hellking Uzumaki strikes Again!**

**Hey guys, and girls, and anyone who does not fit the previous categories, here is my newest thing.**

**Ok, I'll be honest, this is actually a story that I adopted from Raja-Ulat a few months ago but I have't had time to edit it enough for me to republish it. Now that I have a new chapter should appear every other week or so. Everything up to chapter thirteen is the stuff I adopted after that it will be all me. So please enjoy one of my favorite stories ever.**

Naruto: Xenonin

Disclaimer: This will be an Aliens X Naruto fanfiction. With that said, I hope you enjoy my literary contribution.

Chapter 0: Summoning

Konohagakure, the Hidden Village of Leaves located in the Land of Fire, is one of the major powers in a world where ninja act as hired mercenaries, law enforcers and even soldiers of war. Guided by its Will of Fire, the belief in which love is the true source of strength which will bring people together and overcome conflict, the village is among the most prosperous and peaceful of the hidden ninja villages. However nothing in the universe is perfect and Konohagakure is no exception to this rule…

An eleven-year old blond boy with sun-tanned skin, cerulean-blue eyes and two pairs of three whisker-like birthmarks on his cheeks was grinning in almost manic glee as he completed his latest masterpiece, a homemade summoning contract seal. Having recently found a discarded book at the ninja academy which taught the basics of seals, including summoning contracts, the boy named Uzumaki Naruto was eager to make one. Not only do all the awesome ninja, including the Legendary Three and the Fourth Hokage, have summoning contracts of their own but Naruto will also be able to get himself a friend. For a boy who had been alone for as long as he could remember, treated as a pariah by almost everyone in the village with only a precious few exceptions, being able to gain a friend alone would convince him to make a summoning contract. Besides, how hard can it be?

Wiping the sweat from his forehead with a bloodied hand, courtesy of using his own blood to make the seal as a replacement of a special kind of ink required to make seals, Naruto grinned at the circular seal he had made on the wall of his small rundown apartment. At the middle of the seal was a single spiral with a thicker centre and a tapering outer end. Rubbing his hands together, Naruto's grin widened as he recalled the information he got from the admittedly outdated book.

"Just write my name on the seal, place my bloody fingerprints onto it and finally add some chakra into it. Easy!" He muttered to himself.

Quickly writing his name beside the seal followed by adding a bloody handprint beside the name, Naruto then took a deep breath and summoned as much chakra as he could, causing a blue glowing aura to radiate from him.

Aiming at the centre of the summoning circle, the boy shouted, "Here, I go, dattebayo!"

Releasing that massive burst of chakra into the seal, Naruto was suddenly thrown back as the seal exploded in a flash of light followed by a thick cloud of acrid smoke. Groaning in pain due to the recent physical abuse his body went through, Naruto's eyes widened in amazement as the smoke cleared to reveal a black scorch mark where the seal used to be and, more importantly, a greenish-grey leathery egg with four petal-like lips on top. Staring at the egg curiously, Naruto approached cautiously with a kunai, a type of throwing knife, in hand as he wondered what kind of animal lays eggs like that.

Suddenly, the eggs' four petal-like lips opened, causing Naruto to flinch as raised his kunai in self-defence. Seeing no further reaction, Naruto lowered his guard and slowly approached the egg, wondering what kind of animal was hatching from it. He got his answer soon enough as a spider-like creature with dark-brown chitin for skin, webbing between its eight clawed legs and a vertebra-like tail with a bladed tip suddenly launched itself from the egg and latched onto his face. Before Naruto could fight it off, he suddenly lost consciousness as he felt something going down his throat…

(Deep within Naruto's soul)

Meanwhile, from within the confines of its prison, a demonic nine-tailed fox known as Kurama, the Kyuubi no Youko, felt a hostile foreign presence.

Growling at the presence beyond the confines of his prison, Kurama spat, "What did that brat do this time?" His eyes widened in shock and even horror as he saw what the foreign presence was doing. Desperate to save itself, the fox was forced to act. "Brat, you owe me for this…!"

(On the following day…)

The first thing Naruto felt was an incredibly sore feeling, especially from the lower right of his ribs. "Feel's like something just broke out of my chest and then put it back together…"

AS he stretched his sore body out his hand bumped into something. The boy's thoughts froze the moment his fingers felt something eerily familiar. Turning his attention towards whatever he was touching, Naruto screamed in terror as he saw the same egg which produced that freaky spider-creature that hugged his face and shoved something foul down his throat. Panicking, Naruto looked around desperately for the creature before calming himself as he saw no trace of it. Suddenly feeling thirsty and hungry, Naruto decided to quench his thirst and hunger before doing anything else for the day.

Greedily gulping a tall glass of water, Naruto gasped in relief as he felt slightly better already. He then proceeded to prepare a kettle to boil some water over his stove to make his favorite dish in the world. As the water in the kettle slowly boiled, Naruto sat upon a chair and pondered what in the world happened to him after that freaky spider-thingy knocked him out. He never considered the possibility that his still-aching ribs may be related to the face-hugging spider, or the fact that his old faded-white shirt now had a hole surrounded by bloody-red ring around it. Then again, the boy was terribly hungry and tired. Nor was he truthfully that intelligent.

Suddenly, Naruto noticed something very odd with his bed. For one thing, he did not remember owning pillows large enough to form that large lump underneath the blanket. As if that was not enough reason for suspicion, a bladed tail, which resembled that of the spider, was poking out from beneath the blanket. Feeling his heart pounding from within his aching ribs, Naruto cautiously approached the creature under his blankets with a practice kunai in hand. After tentatively approaching his bed, holding his breath every time the tail twitched, Naruto grabbed hold onto the blanket and, in a swift motion, pulled it off the bed. Immediately assuming a defensive pose, Nartuto was expecting the creature to attack him, only to be greeted by a sight which mad his jaw drop like a ton of bricks.

Lying on his bed, curled up into a fetal position which practically screamed vulnerability, was a naked girl with blood-red hair, pale skin, a strange exoskeleton covering her forearms, lower legs and along her spine, four ventral vents protruding from her upper back as well as a vertebra-like tail with a bladed tip extending from the base of her spine. Naruto also noted that the girl had a cute feminine face as her brows furrowed in displeasure at the sudden brightness. Moaning slightly, the girl struggled to stay asleep only to finally give up as her eyes fluttered open, revealing black sclera, amber-yellow irises and cat-like pupils.

Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, the girl finally noticed the dumbstruck Naruto, his jaw still opened wide from the shock while his hand was still holding onto his kunai. The girl innocently assumed a sitting position without addressing her nudity and tilted her head as she observed him with a curiously blank expression on her face.

One whole minute of awkward silence passed before Naruto finally regained the required mental acumen to speak, "Uh, hello?" Seeing no reaction from the girl, other than blinking, the boy lowered his guard and asked, "You don't happen to see a freaky face-hugging spider-thingy, did you?"

Suddenly an image of the face-hugging creature appeared in Naruto's mind and, before the boy could react, he saw more images which seemed to explain the lifecycle of the creature. Coming from the leathery egg with the four petals on top, the spider-like creature would then seize a person by the face in order to implant an embryo into their chest cavity. After successfully implanting the embryo, the spider would then naturally expire although there are unique "royal" types which can implant two embryos into two separate hosts before dying. Once implanted, the embryo would grow inside the chest cavity of its host until it becomes large and strong enough to break free thereby killing its host. Once free, the snake-like larva would proceed to consume some food before moulting into an adult, some which are actually queens responsible for both leading the hive and laying more eggs, much like the queens of an ant colony, thus repeating the vicious cycle. However something occurred when the girl, who was supposed to be a queen herself, tried to develop within the boy's chest. A malicious crimson creature, composed of an energy her kind had never encountered before, attempted to destroy her. The crimson energy creature encountered a complication however when the face-hugging spider, still latched onto Naruto, started to strangle him in defence of the still-developing embryo. Realizing that it could not kill her without killing the boy, not that it will simply sit by and let her kill him, the creature decided to make a deal with her. She would be allowed to grow safely inside the boy, in exchange of losing her original form to that of a human as well as not killing the boy. Of course, given her originally alien nature, she would never become fully human which the creature assured her was not an issue as she would be what it called a "bloodline limit" human. Agreeing with the creature, after being shown images of insanely powerful humans which possess deadly abilities her kind had never encountered before, the girl proceeded to take on more human traits that any of her own kind had ever done before. She also made it a point to break out of the boy's chest in the least damaging way possible while the energy creature used its own powers to heal the boy's broken chest. Still in her original larval form, she then devoured both the spider and her sibling embryo, taking care not to get any of their apparently acidic blood onto the boy, before sleeping and moulting into her current semi-human form.

Recovering from the images implanted into his mind, Naruto stared at the girl in wide-eyed horror as she was the "child" of the spider creature that attacked him. What horrified him even more however was the crimson creature she met as Naruto recognized it, the Kyuubi no Youko which attacked his village on the very same day her was born.

"Was… was it inside me…?" He whispered softly. Like any other student of the ninja academy which he attended, the boy had learned that the Fourth Hokage had either slain the beast or had sealed it away forever. To realize that the creature was not only alive but was sealed inside of one's own body was hardly a pleasant revelation.

Shaking in fear and revulsion, the boy pointed his kunai at her as he asked, "A-are you going to kill me now?"

Rather than answer, the girl's thoughts and emotions became known to Naruto as she seemed to ask, _"Why?"_

Shaking off his bewilderment from somehow understanding her, Naruto accused, "Because you tried to kill me earlier!" While not unfamiliar with death threats or even danger, Naruto never terrifyingly felt so close to getting killed as that previous day.

Once more her thoughts echoed within his mind._ "Killing you necessary back then. No longer necessary now."_

Normally the girl's words would not reassure anyone but, as her thoughts were sincere and Naruto was optimistically naïve by nature, Naruto chose to believe her for the moment at least.

Lowering his guard, Naruto said, "Alright, but we're meeting Jiji the first thing after I've had breakfast."

Tilting her head, the girl said her first vocal words, "Jiji?"

(Half an hour later)

Sarutobi Hiruzen, the third and current Hokage of Konohagakure, also known as the Professor as well as the God of Ninja, was thunderstruck by the story Naruto had just told him. As one of the few people who care for Naruto's welfare, Hiruzen was understandably upset at the boy's foolhardy attempt at summoning as he could have just as easily made a giant version of what is known as an exploding seal with incredibly good reason. What really shocked him however was the result of that summoning, which almost killed the boy only to end up becoming a girl, no matter how alien she currently appeared. That is not even considering the fact that Naruto mentioned that it was the Kyuubi no Youko that had saved him, even if it had only done so to save itself, at least as far as Hiruzen knew.

After a whole five minutes of shock-induced paralysis, Hiruzen sighed as he massaged his forehead and muttered, "Naruto, is there anything you might have left out?"

Thinking it over for a few moments, Naruto shook his head and said, "That's about it, Jiji." Naruto was pretty sure he told the old man everything as he even told him about his embarrassment of dressing the girl, who seemed completely oblivious to her own nudity, into some clothes as well as her shocking dislike for ramen. As the boy had put it, "She actually dislikes ramen! How much more alien can she get?"

Looking between the boy who was still dressed in the clothes he woken up in earlier that morning and the girl who was currently dressed in the cleanest clothes the boy could give her, clothes which sadly tore due to her dorsal vents and tail, Hiruzen then asked, "I am assuming that the girl will not go about killing the people of this village anytime soon?"

Shaking his head, Naruto said, "She said she won't if she has no reason to." His expression then became apprehensive as he asked, "Say Jiji, why did the fox save me?"

Looking between the boy and the girl, who was responsible for revealing clues of the truth to him, Hiruzen sighed and explained, "Naruto, unlike what we have taught you in the academy, the Fourth Hokage could not slay the Kyuubi no Youko but only seal it away, and even then he could not do so permanently. On the day you were born, the same day the Kyuubi no Youko attacked Konohogakure eleven years ago, the Fourth Hokage sealed it into you in order to save the village. A feat which he did only at the cost of his own life."

Normally the revelation would have been a great shock to the boy but, considering what he had gone through just that day and his ultimately correct suspicions concerning the demon fox, Naruto's reaction was less dramatic than it could have been but he was no less hurt. His heart heavy with grief, the boy softly asked, "Am I… really a demon then?"

Hiruzen was about to speak to the boy when the girl suddenly interrupted him. _"No. Crimson One a parasite, like larva-me."_

Surprised by her apparent telepathic ability, although it did explain how Naruto was able to get information from her despite the boy mentioning about her near-inability to speak vocally.

Hiruzen took the opportunity to explain further. "While calling the Kyuubi a parasite is not completely wrong, it would be more accurate to call it a prisoner, with you as its living prison."

"So… will it die if I die?" Naruto had been curious why the fox would save him from certain death.

Shaking his head at Naruto's query, Hiruzen said, "While that is certainly a possibility, it would be just be as likely that the Kyuubi would be freed if you died, even if it is delayed by the number of years it requires to fully reform. However, given the circumstance, it seemed that the former outcome was rather likely if your new friend here had killed you as a parasite."

Accepting the old man's explanation, Naruto then asked, "What's going to happen to us now?"

"On the day I realized that you were the Kyuubi's vessel, I made a law forbidding any of the adults from letting either you or the younger generation know about the burden you bear. I also hoped that the village will see you as a hero for bearing that burden, which was also what the fourth had hoped for. Alas, it was not to be, as you of all people should know," Hiruzen said with a sigh.

Naruto nodded in understanding as he knew what his life had been all too well. While never physically abused, at least not a lot anyway, the boy had bore the brunt of every mental and emotional form of abuse the villagers could think of.

"As the nature of your burden is supposed to be one of the village's S-ranked secrets, I would appreciate it if you do not speak of it with just anyone including your peers." Considering the danger of being treated as a social pariah by both the adults and his peers, even Naruto did not need much convincing.

Turning his attention to the girl, Hiruzen said, "As for the girl… I'm honestly at a loss myself. As she is currently a blood-line human rather than her… original species, I cannot very well classify her as your pet."

"Why's is that a bad thing, Jiji?"

"Because I would have to tell of her existence to the council and, knowing them, they will most likely try to take her away from you in order to use her to further their own agenda."

Hiruzen would not have been surprised if Naruto angrily shouted in protest but neither of them expected the girl to suddenly release a powerful yet cold killing aura as she telepathically growled, _"I kill bad humans!"_

Almost frightened by the girl's uniquely terrible fury which seemed so cold that it actually burned, Hiruzen asked, "Bad humans?"

She responded with another telepathic hiss._ "We kill for food, for hosts, to live. Bad humans hurt worse than kill for useless things they call pleasure, money and power. I kill them."_

Now understanding the reason of her fury, Hiruzen explained to her, "Which is why we must figure out a way to stop them from hurting you."

The girl's subtly furious expression changed into that of confusion as she asked, _"Why no kill them?"_

"Because that it not how we humans run things." Hiruzen's patiently replied.

_"… Humans odd…"_ She responded after a moment.

Incredulous, Naruto asked, "Wait, so it's normal for you to kill your own kind?"

Nodding slightly, the girl explained. _"Killing different hive, normal. Bad humans like from different hive."_

Seeing the eerie parallels between her specie's mentality to that of humans, however vicious or alien they may be, Hiruzen said, "While I do agree with you that bad people and good people should never mix, human society unfortunately contains both of types of people."

He then continued to think about their dilemma for a minute. Then he had a rather ingenious idea which he quickly voiced. "Tell me, did you take all of your human traits from Naruto?"

Her reply seemed almost wary._ "Yes."_

"Then is it safe to say that you are his relative of sorts then?"

Realizing what Hiruzen was plotting, Naruto excitedly shouted, "Then you're like my sister, or cousin!"

Smiling, Hiruzen nodded. "While your relationship with Naruto will probably be a distant one, it should be enough for you to be registered as a member of his family which means that the council cannot legally claim you as theirs. Do you accept the offer?"

She seemed to take several moments to think before answering. _"… Yes."_

Pleased, Hiruzen then said, "Good. Now, what do we call you, hmmm… How about Uzumaki Hoyuki?"

Tilting her head, the girl curiously asked, _"Hoyuki?"_ She understood the Uzumaki portion of her name as it was the same as that of Naruto's own full name.

"It means fire and snow, flaming snow. I say this because of your pale skin and fiery hair."

Pondering over her name for a moment, the girl then nodded and said, _"Yes."_

(Scene Change)

True to Hiruzen's suspicions, once the council overcame their shock of Naruto actually being able to summon something which must have originated from beyond their world or even their universe, not to mention the fact that the boy now knows of his burden, they quickly demanded for the girl to be handed over to them like she was a prized possession they had lost and just found.

Hiruzen almost sighed at the predictability of some of the council members as the civilians demanded the girl to be handed over to Uchiha Sasuke, the last member of the famous Uchiha clan, to be his. Danzo, a man who believes that true peace will only come to Konoha once it conquers all of the Elemental Nations as a single empire regardless of the costs, demanded the girl to be handed over to him to be trained as an "elite ninja". The Third Hokage secretly smirked behind a cool facade as he explained that the girl is officially Naruto's sister due to the circumstances of her metamorphosis and that the boy happily took her in despite the fact that she almost killed him during her parasitic larval stage. The expressions on their faces as well as the "whiny bitching" (as he liked to call it) they made only added to his sense of deep satisfaction.

'_And I haven't even showed them her picture yet…'_ Hiruzen thought as he remembered why her face looked so familiar despite the decidedly alien coloration of her eyes and pale skin. He could only imagine the noise the council will make when they see her facial resemblance to the late Fourth Hokage, not to mention his wife…

(Three months later…)

Umino Iruka, a young man with brown hair tied into a spiky ponytail and a scar running across his nose, was busy calling out the names of the students in attendance for the first day of the new school year when he noticed something was rather odd about that day. It took him a few moments to realize why.

"Where's Naruto?" While the boy was undisputedly a troublemaker who would skip boring classes, he would never deliberately skip school, unless of course he was committing one of his grand pranks. Like the time he somehow got a team of genin, the lowest-ranked ninja, to be covered from head to toe in chicken feathers.

Looking around, the students had no idea either. Iruka shook his head and decided to look for the boy later. The chunin was about to start class when the ceiling above the classroom suddenly rattled loudly as though something was in a hurry within it. Alarmed, Iruka quickly drew out his kunai to defend himself and his students when suddenly a ceiling panel vanished and two figures dropped through the gap. His eyes widened in shock as he recognized one of them.

The red-haired girl, who was clothed in tattered rags and whom Iruka had never seen before, was easily the strangest person he had ever seen. Black sclera, amber-yellow irises and cat-like pupils, the girl's eyes alone were alien in its strangeness. The four black dorsal vents protruding from her upper back, strange black chitin for skin on her forearms, lower legs and along her spine and a vertebrae-like tail with a bladed tip just made her even stranger in appearance. She also gave off a strange vibe which practically screamed "alien".

The boy on the other hand Iruka could easily recognize. Sun-blond hair, tanned skin, cerulean-blue eyes and two pairs of three whisker-like birthmarks on his cheeks, the boy was none other than Naruto. What shocked Iruka was the boy's current state of dress as he was in similar rags as the girl. As far as Iruka knew, the boy never wore these kinds of clothes before and even that bright-orange jacket of his was more presentable no matter how ridiculous some found it.

Not aware or caring of Iruka's shock, Naruto cheerfully said, "Yo!"


	2. Chapter 2

**The King is back!**

**Honesty time here people. For maybe the next week or so I am going to be trying to write and update as much as I physically can. After that I will likely go silent for a good long while as I will be heading off to college. So I will probably be a bit too busy to type up anything very quickly. However once I get my new computer and have settled in to college life I will do all I can to get back to writing.**

**Review Replies!**

**NOT!**

**Hey, I already said this wasn't my story! Now I'm not saying you can't review and comment, but I am saying that I won't likely answer until I start posting the parts that I actually wrote. Until then, I will be silent.**

* * *

Chapter 1: Introduction

Gaping at the sight before him, Iruka asked, "N-Naruto?"

Grinning Naruto replied, "In the flesh, dattebayo."

Staring at the boy, Iruka asked, "What happened to your clothes?"

Obviously sheepish, Naruto tried to explain. "Well… they all kind of got ruined and I had to make do with rags."

Nodding, the girl telepathically added her explanation. _"Fight and hunt lots in forest."_

Iruka was rather shocked by the girl's unusual method of talking, which the other children must have heard as well judging by their equally-shocked expressions.

Naruto explained on his sister's behalf. "What Hoyuki-chan meant to say was we spar a lot and do lots of survival training in the forests nearby."

Now understanding how Naruto's clothes could have gotten ruined, Iruka then asked, "And this is… Hoyuki?" He had heard from the Third Hokage that he would be receiving a new student bearing that very name but he was now certain that the old man deliberately left out a number of details, apparently including the fact that she has a tail.

Naruto's grin widened as he replied happily. "She's my little sister!"

Everyone in the class other than the two Uzumakis gaped at Naruto's happy proclamation as the two could not possibly look any more different. Iruka was more inclined to believe the boy as he saw her surname on the class register. Still he felt he ought to ask how exactly the two were related. "As in your adopted little sister?"

Shrugging, Naruto replied. "Kind of, but she's still family."

Satisfied with the explanation, for now anyway, Iruka turned his attention to Hoyuki and said, "Would you mind introducing yourself to the rest of the class, Hoyuki?"

Nodding, the girl turned around to face the class and introduced herself in her telepathic voice. _"Name, Uzumaki Hoyuki. Like, eating meat and sweet food, hunting, fighting and cuddling. Hate, bitter food, cold and bad humans. Hope, have a big family."_

Staring at the girl, most of the students were at a loss as to how they should respond until a pale-blond girl with light-blue eyes named Yamanaka Ino asked, "Just… how did you meet Naruto-baka?"

Hoyuki's usually neutral-blank expression changed into a very slight frown as she replied. _"He brought me. Almost killed him. Became his sister."_

The silence that followed was oppressive as they tried to understand what the strange girl had just said. Many of the students agreed one thing though, "Okay… she is definitely freaky!"

Unperturbed by the freaked-out children, Hoyuki turned her attention to Iruka. _"Sufficient?"_

While a little disturbed himself, Iruka had enough faith in both Naruto and the Third Hokage to believe that the strange girl was not a threat to anyone, at least not at the moment. "Yeah, that works I suppose. You both may take a seat."

Bowing slightly, the girl then followed Naruto until the both of them were seated. However, due to her tail, the girl opted to instead simply squat beside the blond who was sitting at the edge of a bench, using her tail as a prop to support her. Worried, Iruka asked, "Do you need a stool, Hoyuki?"

Shaking her head, Hoyuki explained. _"Often."_

Confused, Iruka turned his attention to Naruto who explained for his sister once more. "She does this all the time and it never bothers her."

Iruka sounded dubious as he replied, "Right… Aaanyway, before we start our class…"

(Scene Change)

"So, what do you think about that new girl?"

Turning her attention to Ino, a pink-haired girl with green eyes and a prominent forehead named Haruno Sakura replied, "That girl is definitely odd."

Her paradoxically silent inner persona on the other hand shouted, _'She's a super creepy-freak! How can she squat like that for the whole class?'_

Nodding in agreement, Ino glanced at the two Uzumaki's and asked, "Do you really think that Naruto took her in as his little sister even though she almost killed him?"

"No idea, but some of the boys seem to like her looks for some odd reason."

Neither Sakura nor Ino realized that the more "observant" boys liked what little they saw beneath Hoyuki's rags, especially her posterior. The fact that she wore nothing under the rags might have something to do with it.

"Yeah, I bet Kiba would be drooling over her like a horny dog if he and Akamaru weren't so scared of her. Hell, even Shino seems nervous around her."

Incredulous, Sakura asked, "Wait, Kiba and SHINO are scared? Sure she's creepy but what can be so bad about her?"

"I don't know. But if Shino of all people feels nervous about her, we should probably be careful too." Ino barely held in her grimace as she added, "I mean, she speaks with her mind of all things, even my clan can't do that so naturally!"

While the two girls, who were also rivals for a certain boy they and many other girls like named Uchiha Sasuke, continued their discussion about the newcomer, a chubby boy with brown hair and a swirl on each cheek named Akamichi Chouji was busy munching on potato chips while asking, "Hey, Shikamaru, what do you think about the girl?"

Peering at the girl, a lazy-looking boy with his hair tied into a spiky ponytail on top of his head named Nara Shikamaru muttered, "Troublesome. She speaks with her mind, has a tail and outright admitted she tried killing Naruto of all people at least once. I don't even want to know what convinced him to take her in as his little sister."

As the two boys talked about the girl, a wild-looking boy with untidy brown hair and a pair of red fang-like marking on his cheeks glared at the girl in both fear and disgust as she simply smelled wrong, as though she did not belong to this world. Named Inuzuka Kiba, the boy muttered to his pet puppy, Akamaru, which was lying on top of his head as usual, "Keep a close nose on her buddy, that girl is dangerous!" Akamaru whined in agreement.

Another boy, with curly brown hair, pale skin and wearing a pair of sunglasses as well as a high-collared coat, shared similar sentiments with the wild boy. Named Aburame Shino, the boy felt his insides literally crawling in distress whenever he paid attention to Hoyuki. Adjusting his sunglasses, the boy silently thought, _'That girl… is even more alien that she looks.'_

Glaring at the two Uzumakis was a boy with dark hair and eyes as well as a face which many of the girls found handsome, which apparently seemed somehow enhanced by his brooding expression. Known as Uchiha Sasuke, the last member of the Uchiha clan and the current number one rookie of the year, the boy was unsurprisingly a fan-favourite among the girls. Focusing his attention on the girl, Sasuke mused, _'So the dobe got himself a sister. Doesn't make him any less pathetic and she must be even more useless than him if she can't even kill him.'_ Having come to that conclusion, he quickly dismissed the two of them.

Out of the entire class, only a few people were actually concerned for Naruto, although Hoyuki's currently benign interactions with him eased them somewhat. One of them was a shy dark-haired girl with pale-lavender eyes that lacked pupils named Hyuuga Hinata. Smiling shyly at the blond boy who seemed so bright with happiness even with his admittedly poor state of dress, Hinata thought, _'I'm glad that Naruto-kun's little sister seems like a nice person, although I'm worried about why she almost killed him at first.'_

Oblivious to the rest of the class, both Naruto and Hoyuki studied their lessons as though everything was normal…

(Scene Change)

After attending their first lesson with Iruka, the boys were sent to taijutsu class, a class which teaches physical martial arts, while the girls were sent to flower-arranging class. Hoyuki was unsurprisingly confused by the class as she deemed it seemed completely useless as far as she could tell.

_"Why arrange flowers? Pretty won't kill prey or foe."_ She commented.

Suzume, a young woman with surly black hair, wearing quite a bit of makeup including red lipstick and a pair of oval spectacles, was annoyed at the apparently clueless girl as she tiredly explained. "That's because it is a vital lesson which teaches kunoichi the importance of elegance and beauty during infiltration missions."

_"But it won't kill."_

Huffing haughtily, Suzume replied, "Of course not! What sort of barbaric backwater place did you come from anyway?"

_"From the dark, beyond the stars."_ Answered Hoyuki as though it was though it was a completely obvious answer.

Everyone in the class blinked at the girl, before Ino hesitantly asked what everyone was thinking. "Um… Are you… an alien?" While feeling rather silly for asking that question, Ino just had to know.

Nodding, which shocked everyone, Hoyuki explained. _"Parasite, from beyond. Naruto called me. Hurt him but not kill. Became his sister. No longer alien."_

"… Okay… that explains a LOT about you," said Ino as she nervously took a few steps away from Hoyuki. Almost all of the girls and Suzume backed away from her.

"Did you just hear what she said?"

"That girl's a freak!"

"No way she's no longer alien, just look at her!"

"And that dead-last idiot actually took her in? Goes to show how stupid he really is!"

While not surprised by their reactions (Her parent-species had killed enough humans to warrant such prejudices) Hoyuki nevertheless felt very annoyed. Especially at the insults aimed at Naruto. She turned her attention to Suzume and asked, _"Where taijutsu?"_

(Scene Change)

Naruto was standing before Sasuke and was grinning as he asked, "Ready to be used to wipe the floor, teme?"

Snorting derisively, Sasuke replied, "Like you will ever be anything more than a useless, dead-last, dobe."

The taijutsu teacher, a silver-haired man named Mizuki, was about to start the match between the two boys when he caught sight of something which made him say, "Hey, aren't you supposed to be in the other class?"

All the boys turned their attention to see Hoyuki who was approaching them.

Naruto, who knew her quirks and beliefs, sighed and asked, "You didn't like the flower arrangement class, did you?"

Shaking her head, Hoyuki replied. _"No, useless. Flower Teacher and girls foolish. Pretty no kill anything."_

While the other boys were disturbed by her statement, Naruto simply smiled and asked, "So you want to join us then?"

Nodding, Hoyuki replied. "_Yes. Taijutsu teach fight and kill."_

"Why is that freak always talking about killing?" asked a nervous boy who wore a beanie named Hibachi.

Naruto at least had the decency to appear sheepish as he explained. "That's because it's pretty much the only thing her kind used to do before she became my sister. They can't even make babies without killing something outside their hive."

While Hibachi, and many other boys, paled at the statement, Shino curiously asked, "Wait, you mentioned hive?"

"Yeah, think of her kind like wasps that lays eggs in caterpillars but living like ants."

Shino actually gasped as he took a step back and spoke as he trembled, "A species of eusocial parasitoids…" Seeing that Shino was actually visibly terrified disturbed even Mizuki.

Curious, both Naruto tilted his head and asked, "Eusocial parasitoids?"

Nervously adjusting his glasses, Shino explained, "Among insects, to be classified as eusocial means that the insect live in hives or colonies which usually number by the thousands led by a single egg-laying queen. To be classified as parasitoids means that the insect lays eggs into a host for its young to feed and grow from within, killing the host in the process. To be classified as both…" Not even Naruto could deny the horrific implications.

Before the boys could panic, Hoyuki calmly spoke, _"Correct. But no longer. Human."_

Assuming a defensive stance, Shino cautiously asked, "How so? It is illogical for a species of parasitoids to become like their hosts."

_"My kind can."_

Before anyone could argue against her point, images of horrific alien creatures with elongated heads lacking ears, noses or eyes, four dorsal vents on their upper backs, a vertebrae-like tail with a bladed tip and strange chitin for skin appeared in their minds. They then saw variations of the same creature including horns for ramming, wings for flight and even fins for swimming. One variation in particular stood out as it showed both the host and the resulting creature as it bore mandibles and deadlocks like its already dangerously intimidating host.

After seeing the images, the entire taijutsu class except Naruto stared at the girl as she explained, _"I changed. More than any."_

Still suspicious, Shino asked, "Why?"

_"A deal. A promise."_

Blinking, Shino's eyebrows rose above his sunglasses as he asked, "Deal?"

_"S-ranked."_

While not liking the lack of details, Shino and a few of the boys, including Shikamaru, decided to trust her for now. After all, there is no way the Third Hokage would allow her to be free as Naruto's sister if he had deemed her to be a threat.

Seeing that a few of the boys have relaxed somewhat, the girl then asked, _"Join?"_

Grinning, Naruto said, "Sure you can! Heck, you can even take my place!"

Seeing the blond boy's action as an act of cowardice, Sasuke snorted. "Are you letting her fight in your place? You're even more pathetic than I thought, dobe."

The proud boy did not expect Naruto's reaction as he grinned and replied. "Nah, I'm just letting her have some fun." Skipping out of the ring, Naruto said, "Have fun, Hoyuki-chan." As soon as Naruto finished speaking, Hoyuki suddenly appeared before Sasuke.

Shocked by her sudden appearance, Sasuke glared at both Naruto and her before saying, "I will show no mercy, not even to a girl."

Hoyuki's crouched low with her clawed hands and tail ready to strike as she replied, vocally with a notable rasp in her voice, "No mercy!" Those that found her telepathy disturbing were correcting themselves as they realized that her verbal voice was even worse as it chilled their spines.

Quickly assuming a taijutsu stance, partly due to his fear aof the obviously alien girl which he would never willingly admit, Sasuke appeared ready for the match.

Seeing that neither combatant were willing to back down, Mizuki sighed and said, "Alright, match start!"

As soon as Mizuki announced the start of the match, Sasuke charged at the girl only to be tackled by her as she bent low and slammed her elbow against his stomach at a speed he could barely follow. Feeling the wind flee from his lungs, Sasuke was unable to even catch his breath as he suddenly felt her hand grip his throat while the tip of her tail hovered over his eye.

Staring at the girl, Sasuke could not believe he had lost. _'She's just that dobe's sister. How…?'_

Naruto, the only one who was not alarmed by her actions, cheered for her at the top of his lungs. "Alright! Hoyuki-chan one! Sasuke-teme ZERO!"

Barely restraining his rage, Sasuke growled at the blonde. "If you're so great, why don't you fight her, dobe?"

Placing his hands behind his head, Naruto grinned and said, "Sure, it'd be like all the sparing we already had…" Naruto frowned as he added, "…which ruined my favourite jumpsuit."

Hoyuki seemed almost sheepish as she let go of Sasuke and replied to her brother's statement. _"Sorry."_

"Nah, it's ok! Besides, these rags don't look too bad on me once you get used to them."

With Sasuke out of the ring, as the bitter loser of the fight, both Naruto and Hoyuki faced one another.

Grinning, Naruto assumed a similar fighting stance as Hoyuki and asked, "Ready, Hoyuki-chan?"

It was at that moment Hoyuki wore a small smile which made her actually her look cute before she replied. _"Always brother."_

"Match, start!"

Hearing Mizuki's shout both combatants charged at one another at the same time. They clashed as Naruto's right hand intercepted her right elbow. Her tail then struck, almost striking the jugular as Naruto barely dodged it. The blond boy then threw an uppercut at her chin with his left hand only for the girl to suddenly flip, her tail lashing out thus cutting his cheek.

Ignoring the pain of his two bleeding wounds, Naruto grinned as the girl as she landed back onto her feet. "That tail of yours is a real pain in my ass, Hoyuki-chan."

Smiling, Hoyuki replied. _"You heal faster."_ True to her word, Naruto's wounds started to heal and seemed to be actually smoking as the wounds closed.

Shocked by Naruto's ability and the fact that he could actually keep up with her despite the apparently unfair advantage her tail provided, the boys were at a loss for words when the two clashed again, leaving vicious and bloody claw marks on the both of them as they exchanged blows. However both ignored their injuries which were already starting to heal, albeit at a slower rate for Hoyuki. The boy leapt into the air and attempted to drive his heel into her shoulder only to have her suddenly turn around and use her tail strike at him again, sending him flying. Feeling winded by the blow, Naruto quickly flipped in the air and landed on his feet just as Hoyuki attempted to tear at him with her claws. Grabbing hold of her clawed hands and ignoring the pair as they dug in, Naruto allowed her to push him down before slamming his knee into her stomach, causing the girl to cry out in pain as her grip on his hands loosened. Naruto then delivered a resounding slam at her forehead with his own forehead, dazing her.

Letting the dazed girl fall off him, Naruto sighed and said, "That went better than expected…" The boy's words died in his mouth as he stared at the pointed tip of Hoyuki's tail pointing at his neck.

Scowling, Naruto muttered, "You always beat me at taijutsu."

Hoyuki's small smile was almost impish as she replied, _"Respect tail."_

Naruto's scowl became a little petulant as he pushed the tail away and said, "Yeah, yeah."

Neither combatants noticed the dumbstruck stared the others were giving them as they had seen the fight not as a spar, but as a bloody duel between savages.

"Did you see the way she uses that tail?"

"How can they heal so fast?"

"It could have been a bloody slaughter!"

"Those two are even more troublesome than they look…" muttered Shikamaru.

Adjusting his sunglasses, Shino mused, "Interesting, that girl seems to rely on her tail like a scorpion."

"And people call me wild…" Akamaru barked in agreement with Kiba.

Looking at the pair in disbelief, Sasuke whispered, "That girl is strong… interesting."

Needless to say the boy now saw her as a worthy rival to test his limits, which would unfortunately make her even more infamous to the fangirls. That said the one-sided rivalry between the fangirls with Hoyuki had an unexpected but unsurprising benefit which would be told at a later date.

Mizuki was glaring at the two in displeasure as he silently thought, _'I shouldn't have expected anything different from the demon brat, or his sister…'_ Raising his hand, Mizuki declared, "Winner, Uzumaki Hoyuki!"

(Scene Change)

Ichiraku Ramen, a humble ramen stand infamous for being the regular haunt of Uzumaki Naruto. Despite the infamy neither owners of the stand, Teuchi and his daughter, Ayame, had ever regretted helping the boy back then when he was still a small hungry child. Left unsaid was that the boy's appetite and apparent addiction to ramen alone helped keep their business afloat, more so than even the Akamichi boy who would occasionally join him for some ramen. Presently sitting at the stand were Naruto, the strange girl who had become his sister roughly three months ago and their chunin sensei Umino Iruka.

Looking at the boy who was happily slurping noodles at a rate which could rival even an Akamichi, a clan well known for their appetites, Iruka could not believe that Hoyuki was somehow able to convince Naruto NOT to make her eat ramen. To be fair, it was not for the lack of trying. Naruto did try to convince her until he realized she was just as stubborn about her love for meat and sweet food, especially fruits and honey as he was about ramen. As such, the girl was calmly eating some sweet bean soup offered by the shop, after ravenously devouring what appeared to be a pig's entire leg which was roasted with a glaze of honey.

Iruka did not even want to think about where or how she got that leg, much less where she kept it on her person.

"So your sister is actually some sort of alien from beyond this world who turned you into her host and would have killed you had it not been for your "special" chakra which also made her into a bloodline-limit human instead of her original species." Iruka said somewhat skeptically.

Swallowing another large mouthful of ramen, Naruto nodded and replied. "Yep, that's about it!"

The only reason why Teuchi and Ayame were not shocked was because they already heard the story.

Rubbing his temples, Iruka muttered, "Naruto, you are without a doubt the most unpredictable kid I've ever known." He then wore a stern expression as he added, "And one of the most idiotic, that summoning seal could have easily been an explosive seal or brought something which could have killed you for real!"

Knowing that Iruka was right, Naruto admitted, "I got that from Jiji too. But how was I supposed to know better?"

"You could have asked me or Hokage-sama."

"And both of you would have said no!"

Seeing Naruto's point, however childish it was, Iruka sighed and had to admit that the desperately lonely boy would have tried summoning anyway, if only to get himself a friend.

"That still does not excuse your foolishness. You could have brought harm not just to yourself but to the entire village as well. Imagine what would have happened if Hoyuki decided to remain as her original species! no offense meant by the way."

Shaking her head, Hoyuki replied. _"None, truth."_

Sighing, Naruto said, "Yeah, I got the picture."

"Good. That aside, I'm glad that things turned out for the better for you." Iruka's smile broadened into a grin as he added, "I wasn't there to see it but I heard you two had quite a spar."

Naruto's mood improved instantly as he passionately told Iruka about the spars and survival training he and Hoyuki did over the past three months. Hearing the boy's story and looking at the girl who was contently listening to it, as well as interjecting whenever Naruto was exaggerating or trying to hide embarrassing details, Iruka smiled and thought, _'This will be an interesting year alright…'_


	3. Chapter 3

**I have...RETURNED! All bow to the epicosity that is Hellking Uzumaki!**

**Yep as I said/typed/wrote/whateverthehellitisthatIamdoing last time here is yet another chapter in quick fashion. Now I could put this story out faster but I won't. As I go through and edit I am also reading it again and formulating the rest of the story. That is a lot more difficult than I had hoped. That said I will do all I can to keep posting as many chapters as I can as fast as I can. In truth the next of my stories to be updated will likely be the unbloodied blades rather than this one so I don't tick anyone off.**

**Review Replies.**

**Yeah I know I wouldn't do these for this story, but I got them so I must respond, it has become a reflex.**

**T51b Moridin: I'm not entirely sure how to react to those last to comments.**

**Livelikeme 123: She'll have something like that.**

**Karlos1234ify: No, that would be called incest, and that would be a kind of weird that I don't like.**

**Anyway enjoy the story.**

* * *

Chapter 2: Fangirls, Rivals and Friends

Almost a week had passed ever since the start of the school year and already Hoyuki is almost as infamous as Naruto. While the girl would not cause trouble on her own, she would often join Naruto in his pranking misadventures and was quickly drawing the ire of the fangirls due to the fact that Sasuke actually seemed interested in her, a fact which often left Naruto feeling comically ill at the implications. What was more, she was not afraid to admit her alien origins or the atrocities her parent-species is capable of, thus putting off even the civilians that initially wanted to offer her to the last Uchiha, either in a foolish attempt to appease him as though he is the god or out of spite towards Naruto by denying him of his sister. As such, the girl was almost as badly hated by the majority of the village's populace as Naruto. Nevertheless, the girl paid little heed to the hatred towards her as she and Naruto continued to support one another as family…

(Scene Change)

Naruto was being held back in the ninja academy for remedial lessons by Iruka, again, while Hoyuki, who is startlingly intelligent despite her formerly undereducated state, was simply dozing off on a tree branch. While she could be using her time to do something more productive, such as hunting for more meat, Hoyuki could not resist the temptation to simply laze after having put up with the apparently insane fangirls for most of the week.

It all started on the second day of school when the fangirls, led by Ino and Sakura, realized that she actually beat their "Sasuke-kun" during taijutsu class on the previous day. Before realizing that fact, the girls were willing to leave Hoyuki alone while insulting her as a freakish monster from a safe distance or position. However, there was no way the girls could possibly leave her alone after "harming" Sasuke thus the inevitable confrontation…

(Flashback)

"How dare you hurt Sasuke-kun!" shouted an irrational Sakura. Left unsaid by the pink-haired girl was that Sasuke was actually paying attention to Hoyuki despite, or in reality because of, the fact that she actually beat him in taijutsu.

Hoyuki, who was actually blinking in confusion, tilted her head and asked, _"What?"_

"You heard her, how could you hurt our Sasuke-kun!"

Now feeling thoroughly confused, as she clearly remembered that she did not inflict any permanent or even long lasting injuries to the boy, such as gouging out his eyes, tearing our his guts or ripping off his limbs, Hoyuki asked, _"How?"_

Clearly frustrated by the seemingly oblivious girl, Ino shouted, "What do you mean how? You actually beat him, what else!"

Hoyuki was certain she was going to get a headache as she frowned slightly and spoke, _"But taijutsu."_

Ignoring logic in favor of illogical fangirl-worship towards the last Uchiha, Sakura screeched, "We don't care! No one beats our Sasuke-kun and that's final! Not you and definitely not that stupid loser brother of yours, you damned freak!" The other girls cheered in agreement with her.

None of the fangirls or even Hoyuki realized that Naruto was within earshot to Sakura's admittedly loud screeching when she called Hoyuki a freak. While the boy would normally be fine with any abuse the girl he has a crush on could throw at him, the same cannot be said about her hurting his friends or family. As such, Naruto was feeling more hurt because of her than he had ever felt as he thought, _'Was I really trying to date her?' _Finally forced to see just how much of a blind fangirl Sakura really was, Naruto decided to end any and all attempts to be her boyfriend. Thus ending a terrible relationship before it ever had the chance to start. _'I'll never date a girl who hates my family.'_

Naruto's hurt feelings did not go unnoticed as Hoyuki felt them through their uniquely twisted sibling bond. Looking at where Naruto was hiding, Hoyuki felt great sympathy for her brother before her eyes narrowed at Sakura, the girl who has done nothing but hurt her brother, out of petty spite of all things. True, Naruto had been persistent for Sakura's affections to the point that most people would get tired of even trying to be civil with him, but her shallow-minded fangirl nature made any of her Sasuke-related spite towards her and especially her brother illogical and unjustified. Hoyuki had the unpleasantly justified feeling that if Naruto could actually defeat Sasuke, the girl would only end up hating him more thus hurting his feelings even further in the process. Besides, she doubted any affection Sakura expresses towards Naruto will be true even in the off-chance that he actually gains her positive attention after defeating the last Uchiha.

As such, she did not bother to fully restrain her temper as she vocally growled, "Call me freak, alien, monster, demon. But never call my brother loser!"

Combined with her freezingly cold murderous aura, the girl's countenance could actually impress the deadly predators that hunted her kind on a regular basis.

Unused to facing any actual killing intent, many of the fangirls fell to their knees from the terrible aura Hoyuki created. Sakura, who was the target Hoyuki's anger, could swear she saw a shadow of a nightmarish creature with a crown-like crested head taking form behind the tailed girl, showing pearl-white fangs as it growled at her. Shivering in fear, the pink-haired girl felt her heart literally freeze out of sheer terror as Hoyuki continued to verbally speak.

"My brother, not strongest, but never weak!" As suddenly as the terrible aura appeared it disappeared without a trace. Still glaring at the girls, Hoyuki then turned around and said, "Fangirls, pathetic."

After the tailed girl left, the girls started breathing normally again before they realized two things. The first is that the girl is not just a freak but, in their opinion, a dangerously heartless monster while the second is that they have absolutely no chance to beat her as they are, even if they were to work together as a mob. It was therefore a turning point for many of the girls as they realized that only by becoming stronger or craftier can they can actually hope to "get even" with her. While certainly not the most inspiring way to become more competent as ninjas, it had the surprisingly desired effect on the girls nonetheless.

(End Flashback)

Hoyuki had to restrain a sigh as she recalled what the girls had been doing ever since that confrontation. While some had started to train more seriously in the hopes of defeating her, which she personally did not mind even after noticing, others have been more insidious such as spreading slanderous rumours or leaving hurtful letters for both her and her brother. A particularly bad incident involved a group led by a purple-haired girl named Ami spreading rumours that Naruto must be a monster too, such as the Kyuubi no Youko, for liking Hoyuki. While Naruto was felt deeply hurt and afraid while Hoyuki was tempted to at least scalp her, the girl was apprehended by ANBU due to the S-ranked nature of the rumours. After a brief "visit" to a certain scarred leader of Konoha's Torture and Interrogation Unit, the girl never again dared to spread the rumours which eventually died down on their own among the younger generation.

Another incident involved Sakura trying to trap Hoyuki in a genjutsu to humiliate her by making her walk into a trap. However, due to her less than human origins, Hoyuki quickly realized the deception and later gave Sakura a thorough smacking around despite the genjutsu as only her eyes were affected by it thus leaving her other keen senses to function normally. Considering that her original species never had eyes, at least of the visible sort, and could function perfectly fine even in near total darkness, Hoyuki's victory was not all that unexpected. That said, Hoyuki still could not understand why Sakura was making such a big fuss about her ruined hair as it was not only a temporary form of physical damage but one that does not even hurt.

Ino also tried to humiliate Hoyuki by using her family's mind-transfer technique to take control of her body. However, Ino quickly realized to her shock that Hoyuki somehow had some degree of resistance to it as her tail actually stabbed her own hand, causing Ino to let go of her control over her due to the painful injury she received as a consequence of using her mind to invade Hoyuki's body. While Hoyuki quickly healed, it took days for Ino's injury to finally fully heal.

Adding fire to the burning hatred the fangirls had towards her, Sasuke actually had an interest in her if only because she was strong and was apparently the reason why Naruto became stronger as well. While she did not particularly like or have a personal grudge for the boy she was not interested in helping him become stronger after realizing what he would do with his new strength…

(Flashback)

_"Kill 'a certain man'?"_ asked a confused Hoyuki. _"Why?"_

"It's none of your business."

_"But kill, without purpose, is wrong."_

Annoyed by Hoyuki's unexpected reluctance to help him become stronger by sparring with her, Sasuke said, "Well, is vengeance enough reason for you?"

Tilting her head, Hoyuki asked, _"Vengeance?"_

Shocked that the girl, who apparently originated from an entire species of murderous monsters, could actually be ignorant of the idea of vengeance, Sasuke had to ask, "You honestly don't know?"

Shaking her head, Hoyuki explained, _"Kill to eat, to breed, to protect, to survive, nothing more."_

"Then what do you do when someone kills your family, your hive?"

_"We flee, hide, spread out, grow, breed, rebuild, thrive."_ explained Hoyuki as though it was perfect common sense. Considering her original species, it was to her.

Realizing that he was not going to convince the girl to help him get stronger, at least not without risking compromising his own beliefs, Sasuke left in frustration while muttering, "Damned weirdo…"

(Scene Change)

On the following day, Sasuke decided to ask her again, with the same level of success. However, the boy was prepared to at least try to bring himself to her level of thinking as he asked, "You said you have no idea what vengeance is, correct?" Seeing the girl nod, Sasuke then asked, "What would you do if someone decided to hurt Naruto?"

The reaction was immediate as Hoyuki verbally growled, _"I hurt them."_

Chilled by her uniquely cold brand of anger, however mild it was, Sasuke knew that she was the perfect rival for him as he explained, "That, is vengeance."

Blinking in surprise, Hoyuki asked, _"Greater rage vengeance?"_

Hiding a smirk beneath a nonchalant façade, Sasuke replied, "In a manner of speaking." It was at that moment when Hoyuki wore a slightly upset expression, which was the last thing Sasuke expected to see. Confused by her reaction, Sasuke asked, "What?"

_"I… do not want it."_

"What? Why?" As far as Sasuke knew, vengeance is as good a reason to continue living as any other reason.

Shaking her head, Hoyuki asked, _"Vengeance is killing another for killing, correct?"_ Initially confused by her odd question, Sasuke quickly understood that she actually meant to ask if vengeance is killing someone for the sake of killing that person. Nodding, Sasuke knew that he was not going to like what he will hear as Hoyuki explained, _"Vengeance, madness. Kills for no greater purpose."_

Angry that Hoyuki was rejecting his beliefs, Sasuke shouted, "Vengeance IS a purpose!"

Shaking her head, Hoyuki asked, _"How many?"_

"What?"

_"How many kill, for vengeance?"_

While Sasuke did indeed live for vengeance due to his personal circumstances, he could not deny the terrible implications her question brought up, as he has yet to actually kill anyone himself, as she continued to speak.

_"Vengeance will not create hive, family. Live for vengeance is live for death, including avenger, after killing many to kill."_

"…Then you will not help be become stronger?"

Shaking her head, Hoyuki said, _"I want to kill to live, to love. Like my brother."_

"…Fine…!"

Scowling, Sasuke was about to storm off to train by himself when Hoyuki said_, "Brother hated by all, hurt, alone. Could be avenger killing all but chose life, chose love."_

Hearing her speak about Naruto, Sasuke unwillingly paused for a moment to consider her words before choosing to ignore it as he could never imagine Naruto becoming an avenger even if his life depended on it.

Still, he could not help but wonder, _'Hated by all, that dobe?'_

(End Flashback)

Sighing, Hoyuki wondered what was taking her brother so long when she noticed someone watching from the shadows. Looking lazily at a nearby tree, she noticed a dark-haired shy girl with pupil-less pale-lavender eyes peeking at her before quickly retreating. Out of the many girls in the class, that odd shy girl was the only one she has nothing against. Ever since the first day of class, the girl had been looking at both her and Naruto, with special emphasis of the blond boy. At first, Hoyuki simply thought that the girl was staring at them simply because they were odd. However, as time passed, she came to realize that the girl was looking at them for a different reason, one which she is now curious enough to find out.

Hinata was doing her best to hide her presence when Hoyuki suddenly appeared upside down from a branch, looking at her curiously. Yelping in fright, Hinata landed on her backside and was leaning against the tree when Hoyuki spoke.

_"Why?"_

"Huh?"

_"Why look at me and brother?"_

Able to realize that Hoyuki was not accusing her and was simply being curious, Hinata did not feel threatened or upset as she shyly lied, "Um… n-no reason."

Seeing Hinata's obviously poor attempt at lying, Hoyuki deadpanned, _"Lying, bad."_

Wondering if Hoyuki was scolding her for lying or was criticising her poor attempt to deceive her or both, Hinata replied, "S-sorry."

_"It's ok, you no fangirl."_

Hinata felt her heart skip a beat as, contrary to what Hoyuki believes, she is something similar but uniquely different from a typical fangirl. Blushing, Hinata wondered what she should do to get away from the awkward situation before it goes further out of control when Hoyuki landed on all fours like a cat and drew herself close to her.

Nervous, Hinata wondered what Hoyuki was going to do with her when the girl sniffed her hair and said, _"…Smell nice, like flowers…"_

Surprised, Hinata dared to ask, "You… like flowers?"

Nodding, Hoyuki replied, "_Flowers useless in killing, but nice to smell and for sleep."_ The tailed girl then wore a mildly disgusted expression as she added, _"But not like strong smell, even flower-smell."_

The memory of smelling ridiculously strong perfumes which some of the fangirls wore to woo Sasuke made her stomach churn. Hinata's pleasantly gentle lavender scent on the other hand made her appealing to her, as a hugging-pillow for cuddling.

Hoyuki's interest in flowers, if only for olfactory pleasure, was a pleasant surprise for Hinata as she always thought the girl had no interest to them due to her dislike for flower arrangement classes. Having a hobby of flower-pressing herself, Hoyuki's interest in nice-smelling flowers made Hinata think of her as less alien and more human somehow. "W-would you like to know the name of the flower?" Seeing Hoyuki nod, Hinata then answered, "It is lavender."

Thus began an odd friendship between Hyuuga Hinata and Uzumaki Hoyuki, a friendship which will one day turn them into sisters-in-laws, or hive sisters, depending on your point of view.

(Scene Change)

Dragging himself out of the academy, Naruto was cursing rather colourfully at the torture Iruka put him through due to his poor academics despite his increased abilities in taijutsu when he saw Hoyuki dragging someone towards him. Not expecting anyone to even let her touch them, much less let her drag them around like an eager young girl, Naruto blinked in surprise before he recognized the blushing girl Hoyuki was dragging along and asked, "Hinata?"

Hyuuga Hinata, the only girl in the entire classroom to ever like Naruto due to finding inspiration from his optimistic and persistent nature, was torn between wanting to flee for her life and finally confessing her admiration towards him. Of course, with Hoyuki's gentle but powerfully firm grip, Hinata realized that a quick escape was impossible as she got ever closer to the boy she likes.

The poor girl was certain her face was ablaze as she meekly looked at the ground while Naruto asked Hoyuki, "Hoyuki-chan, why are you dragging Hinata around?"

Smiling brightly, which Naruto found amazing due to how rarely she actually smiled that way, Hoyuki happily said, _"Found friend!"_

Looking between Hoyuki and Hinata, Naruto then wore a grin and said, "That's great, Hoyuki-chan!" Turning his attention to Hinata, Naruto smiled and said, "Thank you."

Surprised at seeing one of his rare honest smiles, which have become more often of late, Hinata nervously asked, "F-f-for what, N-Naruto-kun?"

"For being Hoyuki's friend, what else?" replied the happy blond.

Realizing that the boy was actually appreciating her, if only because she was his sister's friend, Hinata felt her heart swell with joy as she shyly replied, "Y-your welcome, Naruto-kun."

Suddenly, Naruto's stomach growled loudly. While a little embarrassed, Naruto was nevertheless grinning as he asked, "Say, want to come with us and have something to eat?"

Hearing Naruto's offer after hearing his appreciation towards her, Hinata finally found the courage to speak out her mind as she replied, "Y-yes!"

(Scene Change)

Hinata was staring at Hoyuki in mild amazement at the fact that she actually lacked Naruto's love for ramen as she greedily gorged herself on a generously large piece of pork ribs, which she claimed was her favourite part of wild boar meat. How the girl managed to keep something like that on her person without anyone noticing was anyone's guess. She was sure that Kiba and Chouji should have at least noticed the admittedly delicious smell.

Eating her noodles as a dainty pace, Hinata then turned her attention to Naruto who was happily slurping his noodles as easily as breathing air. Not shocked by his gluttonous appetite, as she had already known about if from her years of watching him, Hinata wondered what she could talk about with the boy.

As fate would have it, Naruto paused long enough between loud slurps when he asked, "Say, Hinata, how did you and Hoyuki-chan become friends anyway?"

Looking at Hoyuki, who was allowing her to speak, Hinata gathered her courage before hesitantly explaining, "I-I met Hoyuki-san w-while she was dozing off. She… liked the smell of lavender on me and I-I realized she liked flowers too."

Nodding in understanding, Naruto grinned and said, "Yeah, she likes to sleep on flowers and hug something in her sleep." Hoyuki was actually blushing mildly, which Ayame found almost irresistibly cute, as Naruto continued to speak, "So you two talked about flowers?"

Hinata was tapping her fingers nervously as she shyly replied, "Y-yes, mostly."

_"…You like brother, don't you?"_

Naruto almost chocked on his noodles while Hinata squealed in fright before the dark-haired girl asked, "H-h-h-h-how did you know?"

She was certain she never told Hoyuki anything which implied that fact.

_"Obvious."_

Swallowing his noodles with great effort, Naruto stared at Hinata in flabbergasted shock as Hoyuki explained_, "You always look at us. Not with hate, disdain or fear but something else. Took a while to realize you look at brother in affection."_ Hoyuki's smile was impish as she added, _"I approve."_

Embarrassed beyond words, Hinata turned her attention towards the gobsmacked Naruto before she fainted. A moment later, Naruto fainted as well due to the shock of the revelation which Hoyuki found immensely amusing.

Looking at the two fainted children, Teuchi asked, "You did that on purpose, didn't you?"

_"Hinata, lonely like brother. She likes him, he wants affection. Logical and amusing to get them together."_ was Hoyuki's reply.

Both Teuchi and Ayame snickered in agreement with Hoyuki as all three hoped that it would mark the beginning of a beautiful friendship, romance even, between the two lonely children…

(The following school day…)

Iruka found the atmosphere of the classroom interesting to say the least. The majority of the girls were dumbstruck to the point of gaping like a school of beached fishes while many of the boys were staring to the point the young teacher could almost swear that their eyes could roll out of their sockets at any moment. The focus of their attention was a trio consisting of Naruto, Hoyuki and a terribly embarrassed Hinata. What truly surprised everyone was that the pair not only greeted the Hyuuga girl in a friendly manner but actually wanted to take a seat with her. Seeing Hoyuki giving Hinata an affectionate hug was shocking enough a sight to actually cause the brains of many of the students to almost literally shut down temporarily as if to avoid becoming mad from the revelation.

The shock was so bad that Shino's sunglasses actually fell off his face while Chouji's bag of chips fell off his suddenly slack hands and Sasuke was actually comically gaping.

As one of the few people who actually care for the boy, Iruka was glad that Naruto finally managed to get over Sakura and move on. While Sakura was indeed confident, pretty and smart, Iruka could not help but wonder if Naruto had a masochistic streak as he continued to pursue for her affections only to receive nothing but painfully brutal refusals. Granted, Sakura did initially try to be civil with him until his persistence wore off her patience and that her lack of civility to him became an ingrained habit. It certainly did not help that her parents, especially her mother, actually encouraged that behaviour.

As stubborn as Naruto was, the boy refused to give up on gaining Sakura's affections until he realized that the pink-haired girl hated Hoyuki for daring to beat Sasuke in taijutsu.

Looking at the three, Iruka smiled as he felt that the budding relationship between the boy and Hinata may have the potential to become more than simple friendship should fate be willing. Then again, knowing the boy, Naruto would still strive for a future with Hinata if he truly does love her, even if it means opposing the entire Ninja World by himself. Turning his attention to Hoyuki, Iruka knew that Naruto's sister loved him dearly despite their unsettling first encounter and that she would always stand by his side, something which Hyuuga Hinata would likely do as well.

Deciding that the children's brains had enough time to properly reboot, Iruka coughed to get their attention and said, "Alright, pay attention, everyone!"

* * *

**The story will continue in the next chapter- Chapter 3: Friends and Family_  
_**

**Until then my friends and minions!**

**Remember...Read...Review...Or I will find you!**


	4. Chapter 4

**I... Have... RETURNED!**

**(Thunderous Applause)**

**That's right everyone I finally have got myself organized enough so that I have time to write! Man does it feel good to get all these ideas out of my head!**

**Now some may be disappointed that my first post after my almost three month absence is my adopted story. However rest assured my stories will be updated shortly, this one was just the first to be ready.**

**Review Replies!**

**LordGhostStriker : I don't like incest. I don't care who does it or anything like that, I don't end of story. Also Raja-Ulat wrote this as a NaruHina and I will not break my promise to him and change that. If you can't deal with it don't read it.**

**T51b Moridin : Again not technically my story so I won't change something that major to the plot. However if I had been the one to write this I probably would have paired Naruto and Hoyuki.**

**Anyway, enjoy the story.**

* * *

Chapter 3: Friends and Family

Deciding that the children's brains had enough time to properly reboot, Iruka coughed to get their attention and said, "Alright, pay attention, everyone!" Getting their attention, Iruka announced, "It's time to review your ninja techniques." Hearing the young man mention about ninja techniques, the children quickly became attentive.

Ninja techniques are divided into at least three major categories which are taijutsu, ninjutsu and genjutsu. Taijutsu is basically physical martial arts while ninjusu are a set of ninja techniques which require chakra to work and have an actual physical effect unlike genjutsu which creates illusions instead. Subcategories of ninja techniques include barrier ninjutsu, clone techniques, seal techniques, sword techniques and unique secret clan techniques. There are also forbidden ninja techniques which no sane academy teacher in their right mind will ever teach to academy students who have not even earned their headbands which signify their status as ninjas. For example, the seal which Naruto used to summon that alien egg was created using his own unique brand of sealing technique which Hiruzen later classified as a forbidden technique due to the potential danger it poses never mind the risk of it being misused.

Soon each student showed Iruka their mastery over the basic academy techniques which include Kawarimi no Jutsu, the art of body replacement to esacpe from harm, Bunshin no Jutsu, the art of creating illusionary clones to confuse enemies, and Henge no Jutsu, the art of illusionary transformation. After testing the rest of the students, Iruka turned his attention to Hoyuki and said, "Your turn, Hoyuki."

Hoyuki was feeling unusually nervous, as indicated by her slightly twitchy tail, as she stood before Iruka due to the fact that she never did any ninja techniques before. True, Naruto did try to teach her the basics and Iruka had been helping her for the past week when he realized her undereducated state but she still has yet to do any of the techniques. Her unease was noted by the other students as the fangirls silently wished for her to fail while Hinata silently cheered for her and Naruto loudly spoke, "You can do it, Hoyuki-chan!"

Hearing Naruto's encouragement, Hoyuki nodded to Naruto and Hinata before facing Iruka and saying, "I'm ready, sensei."

"Take your time to do the handseals. Just be sure to get them right."

Nodding, Hoyuki did the necessary handseals to activate a henge before changing into a perfect copy of Iruka, if he had her tail and was dressed in rags himself. Looking at his flawed doppelganger, Iruka resisted an urge to chuckle as he smiled at her and said, "Not bad for a first try but do try to complete the handseals faster, change your clothes and not include that tail of yours."

Pouting slightly, Hoyuki changed back into her normal form in a puff of smoke and said, "Hard to imagine life without tail."

Unable to resist a snicker, Iruka then said, "Alright, next technique."

The next technique she did was the bushin which was flawed due to the simple fact that she created a copy of a drone, from her original species. Needless to say, many people got frightened by the drooling beast while Iruka deemed her attempt a failure as well due to the obvious differences in appearance.

Hoyuki's third technique, the kawimari, was done surprisingly well, thus earning Iruka's good-natured ribbing at Naruto as he noted, "At least you did your kawimari right, if a little slow on your handseals. Naruto can't even do any of the three techniques right even with his faster handseals."

"Hey!"

Ignoring the protesting blond boy, Iruka asked Hoyuki, "Are there any other techniques you can show me?" Left unsaid was that the Hokage had specifically requested him and every other academy teacher to provide a report on Hoyuki's progress, especially any unique bloodline techniques she may possess.

Nodding, Hoyuki then asked, "Can brother join?"

Surprised, Iruka asked, "Why?"

"He knows my techniques."

Thinking it over for a moment, Iruka saw no harm in it as it is nothing unusual for family members to share their techniques. Besides, he needed to test Naruto sooner or later. "Alright, but let him do the academy techniques first before you two do your shared techniques together."

After Naruto did his techniques, with surprisingly better success than before as he did both kawimari and henge right this time, although he still cannot do his bushins right, Iruka then faced the two Uzumaki siblings and said, "Alright, show me what you two can do."

Looking at each other, Naruto wore a foxy grin while Hoyuki wore a small smile. Turning their attention to a log Iruka had provided at their request, both assumed a stance and shouted together, "Xenojutsu, Shadow Bursters!" Throwing one arm forward with an open palm, the two children suddenly created eye-less serpent-like horrors with black chitin for skin, vertebrae-like tails and mouths filled with fangs. Not surprisingly, nearly everyone was horrified by the technique, especially those who saw the similarity between the serpents with Hoyuki's original alien species such as that drone-bushin Hoyuki created. Seeing the serpents coil around an unfortunate wooden log before viciously ripping the target apart did nothing to reassure them.

Staring at the broken remains of the unfortunate log, Iruka nervously asked, "Was that… a secret clan technique?"

"Yup, based on Hoyuki-chan's original species," replied a grinning Naruto. "So, what do you think?"

"It's… certainly a deadly technique." Iruka was silently praying that the two children did not know any more horrific techniques as he asked, "Do you two know any more techniques?"

Fortunately enough, the next two techniques they showed were less horrific, if potentially even more insidious, by nature. The second technique they showed was basically a hiding technique which allows them to perfectly blend into the shadows while the third technique allows them to suppress their chakra to the point of appearing non-existent. Combined together, the two techniques allow them to become almost invisible even to people with sensory abilities such as the Byakugan.

Impressed by the latter two techniques, Iruka asked, "I don't suppose these two techniques have anything to do with any of your recent pranks, do they?" Seeing the grinning blond boy was enough to answer that question as Iruka dismissed the two of them. As he dismissed them, he made a mental note to inform the Hokage immediately as he quietly considered the implications of Naruto being able to use what could be Hoyuki's bloodline techniques, "Could he have somehow acquired her bloodline abilities because he was her host?" Iruka's train of thought was shared by at least two other students, Shikamaru and Shino.

(Scene Change)

It was during the following flower arrangement class, which Hoyuki would still skip as she dislikes the lesson, when the other girls finally confronted Hinata. After all, it is not every day one sees Naruto being truly bashful to anyone, never mind the fact that Hoyuki of all people seems to like her. True, there are rumors that Hinata was interested in Naruto but the fangirls never really paid much attention to her due to the fact that she has no interest in Sasuke and tended to avoid attention.

Gathering around the meek girl, Ino asked, "Ok, just what the heck did you do to make Hoyuki like you?"

Feeling nervous, especially since she knows that the girls surrounding her all dislike or even hate Hoyuki to some degree, Hinata stammered, "I-I didn't do anything… m-much."

Not convinced, Sakura asked, "Yeah, right! We're talking about the most heartless vicious monster the academy has ever accepted here!" The other girls, Ino included, nodded in agreement with Sakura.

Upset that they would call Hoyuki as such, especially after seeing her nicer side which made Hinata think of her as a fond and clingy sister, who is admittedly capable of being a vicious and apparently heartless monster if needed, Hinata argued, "S-she's much nicer than that!"

"And what do you know? She has been attacking us for the past week!" cried Ami.

"A-after you all attacked her," Hinata replied.

Hoyuki made no secret of her annoyance at the fangirls.

Surprised at Hinata's attempt of being deadpan and snarky, even though she is really just stating a fact, the girls were stunned for a moment before Sakura angrily argued, "She ruined my hair!" Indeed, Sakura was forced to shave her hair bald after Hoyuki almost scalped her and had to wear a beanie ever since.

Showing her still-bandaged hand, Ino added, "And she stabbed me, with her tail!"

"That bitch got me into trouble with the Torture and Interrogation Team!" cried Ami while other girls claimed that Hoyuki ruined their dress, vandalized their belongings, hit them for no reason and even tried to eat them.

Seeing the irrational girls, Hinata sighed and replied, "Sakura-san, y-you tried to get Hoyuki-chan into a trap. Ino-san, you t-tried to take over her body and she was a-actually stabbing herself. Ami, y-you spread horrible rumours about N-Naruto-kun, who Hoyuki-chan likes. O-of course she will get angry."

Infuriated at the fact that Hinata was actually arguing against them rather than giving them the answers they wanted, Sakura screeched, "And just what did that monster see in you of all people to actually like you?"

Normally Hinata would shrink away from the domineering girl but, after spending even a short amount of time with Naruto and Hoyuki, as well as realizing that Naruto was appreciating her now that he finally noticed courtesy of his tailed sister, Hinata stood her ground and argued, "M-maybe it's the fact that I actually bothered to look underneath the underneath. Maybe it's the fact that I like Naruto, who inspired me to be strong when no one else would, not even my own family. Maybe it's the simple fact that I'm not an obsessive fangirl who will hate someone just because she dared to beat their "Sasuke-kun", in a taijutsu lesson!"

While Hinata's outburst was not as loud as Sakura's earlier screeching, her message was more than clear enough as her unexpected actions stunned them to silence. Even Suzume, who was silently letting the girls interrogate Hinata for answers, was stunned by her actions.

Taking deep breaths to calm down, Hinata glared at the girls and said, "H-hoyuki-chan was right, n-none of you bother to look beneath the surface, n-never mind the underneath. I-if any of you really knew Naruto, y-you wouldn't call him a mere dead-last loser a-and as for Hoyuki-chan, e-even her original kin are more than simple monsters."

Turning around, Hinata was about to leave when Suzume demanded, "Where do you think you're going?"

Not bothering to turn back, not that she needed to with her Byakugan active, Hinata replied, "To where Hoyuki-chan is, Suzume-sensei."

As one of the many people who dislike both Naruto and Hoyuki, Suzume had to restrain herself from growling as she spoke, "And what would your father say if he knew what you were doing in school?"

Suzume was quietly smirking as Hinata froze, only to have her satisfaction broken when Hinata replied, "D-do was you will. M-my f-father has already accepted my relationship with them."

Shocked, Suzume was silent as Hinata continued to leave…

(Scene Change)

Hoyuki was about to spar with Naruto when Iruka, who was taking over for Mizuki that day, noticed Hinata approaching and asked, "What are you doing here, Hinata?"

Pausing in her stride, Hinata said, "I… w-would like to join this lesson, Iruka-sensei."

While Iruka was surprised by Hinata's request, Hoyuki smiled almost eagerly and asked, "Want spar?"

Smiling in return, Hinata replied, "I… had been thinking of a technique t-that I want to try after seeing you two spar and hunt."

Grinning, Naruto happily hopped out of the ring and said, "Then take my place! I bet it's a really cool technique!"

Blushing bright red at Naruto's statement, Hinata was feeling a little faint as Hoyuki smiled and said, "My pleasure, sister."

Remembering her reason to skip Suzume's lesson, Hinata steeled her resolve and entered the ring, trying her best to ignore the stare and leers of the boys. Focusing her attention to Hoyuki and Naruto, who had been nothing but kind and supportive to her ever since the three of them first got together as a group over the last weekend, Hinata assumed a taijutsu stance and told Iruka, "I-I'm ready, Iruka-sensei."

Feeling uncertain, considering that it is the meek Hyuuga heiress against a girl who can fight viciously enough to scare even Inuzuka Kiba, Iruka turned his attention to Naruto who grinned reassuringly and said, "Don't worry, Hoyuki-chan knows how to control herself."

"So says the guy who gets hurt the most when sparring with her," muttered Kiba.

In Hoyuki's defense, she is well-aware of Naruto's high healing rate hence her lack of restraint compared to the others. In her point of view, sparring should closely resemble actual combat to get the best training results.

Although feeling less confident than the blond boy, Iruka knew him well enough that Naruto will never willingly put his precious people in danger. As such, he sighed and said, "Alright then." Turning his attention to the two girls in the ring, Iruka asked, "Are the contenders ready?" Seeing neither girl backing down, Iruka then announced, "Then begin!"

Hoyuki was the first to act as she charged towards Hinata with the intent to overpower her. However, rather than retreating or freezing in fright as expected, Hinata actually attempted to counterattack with her now-glowing hands. Recognizing the pale-blue glow around Hinata's hands, Hoyuki immediately retreated and verbally hissed at Hinata, showing prominent canines and pointed molars.

Shocked that Hinata actually managed to drive the girl back, regardless of the fact that Hinata knew Jyuuken, the Hyuuga clan's unique taijutsu which specializes in crippling enemies by blocking their ability to use chakra, everyone but Naruto gaped as Hinata pressed into the offensive. Their reactions were understandable as only a few people actually knew that Hinata, Naruto and Hoyuki spent their weekend sparring and hunting together in a place known as the Forest of Death…

(Flashback)

"A-a-are you r-really sure w-we can go in?" asked a very nervous Hinata.

It was the day after Naruto finally realized that Hinata actually admired him, a revelation which actually made him quite bashful, when Hoyuki decided to invite Hinata to join them. Unable to resist the idea of spending time with someone that actually likes him, Naruto agreed after making it clear to the tailed girl that they will respect Hinata's decisions.

Nodding, Hoyuki explained, "Serpent-Lady knows we come here."

Blinking, Hianta was about to ask when a new voice suddenly said, "What your tailed friend means to say is that I know those two brats come here to hunt every now and again and I let them because they can take care of themselves and I happen to like them."

Startled, Hinata turned around to face a purple-haired young woman who was dressed in an unbuttoned overcoat, a fishnet suit and a mini-skirt. Shocked that any woman would let herself dress this way, Hinata was speechless as Hoyuki respectfully greeted the woman with purple hair tied into a short spiky ponytail, "Hello, Serpent-Lady."

Waving at the young woman, Naruto greeted her, "Hey, Anko-neechan."

Smirking, the young woman known as Mitarashi Anko said, "So, who's the new girl?" It was not that she did not already know who Hinata was but it never hurts to ask, especially given the fact that the meek heiress of a noble if generally aloof clan was now joining the two infamous regulars of the Forty-Fourth Training Ground, also known as the Forest of Death. As to how Naruto and Hoyuki ended up as such, it involved people deliberately trying to lead them to their doom when hunting became scarce in other accessible forested regions only for it to backfire spectacularly as Hoyuki actually loves the place. It must have something to do with the challenging prey in there which have surprisingly delicious meat. Anko, who was in charge of a routine patrol around the forest at the time, met the two and she was impressed enough by their hunting skills that she actually gave the Hokage her personal approval of their abilities during her report. As a person who is hated by many of the villagers like them due to her personal history, Anko quickly bonded with the two children.

"Hinata, friend, sister," was Hoyuki's none too simple reply.

Surprised, Anko looked at the shy girl, noticed that Naruto was blushing as well, and wore a smirk as she noted, "So… is this your idea of a date, Naruto-kun?"

Almost swallowing his tongue, Naruto sputtered, "O-of course not! Hoyuki just wanted to invite her to hunt and spar with us!" Hinata meanwhile nodded meekly as she struggled to keep herself from fainting.

Rubbing her chin in mock-thoughtfulness, Anko argued, "But you know, guys normally bring their girls to movie theatres, fancy restaurants, festival parties or even love hotels for a date, not that I don't approve of your choice." Her wiggling eyebrows made it clear that she did indeed approve of it.

Blushing furiously, Naruto shouted, "A-Anko-neechan!"

Laughing at the blond boy, Anko turned her attention to a significantly more nervous Hinata as she spoke, "I'm not sure if you have what it takes to join them but, if they like you enough to invite you, then I'll let you in too, with my personal supervision of course."

Thankful that Anko was willing to tag along to help Hinata, Naruto gratefully said, "Thanks, Nee-chan."

Playfully tousling Naruto's spiky hair, Anko said, "No problem, Whiskers. Just don't hesitate to go wild with your girlfriend for my sake."

Naruto and Hinata cried in unison, "A-anko-neechan/san!" Hoyuki actually giggled at the young couple as they entered the Forest of Death through one of its forty-four gates.

(Scene Change)

Spending almost two entire days in the infamous forest training and hunting with Naruto, Hoyuki and Anko, Hinata would have immediately given up had she not received their guidance, encouragement and support. This is understandable as the creatures in the forest are dangerous even for inexperienced genin and she lacked their ability to stand bloodshed. Hinata was quite honestly traumatized by some of things she had seen them do, such as Hoyuki using her Shadow Burster technique to rip a bear into pieces. Nevertheless, she chose to persevere as her courage to face and adapt to difficult odds began to slowly but surely grow.

Naruto, the optimistic boy that he is despite being used to bloodshed, was her pillar of strength as his support and kind gestures, however awkward they may be at times especially with Hoyuki and Anko around, inspired her to persevere. Like Naruto, Hoyuki was a source of inspiration for Hinata as her strengths and calm confidence in her hunting skills made her quite honestly a little envious. It also helped that Hoyuki was understanding of Hinata's reluctance to kill and was willing to let Hinata to take her time getting used to bloodshed despite originating from a species of murderous monsters. Hinata also realized, to her surprise, that Hoyuki was clingy and tended to snuggle like a kitten when asleep. Anko, while certainly a "somewhat" eccentric and perverted person, was also an inspiration for Hinata due to her daring attitude even in the face of adversity such as the hatred she had to endure due to her past history. The young woman was also supportive of Hinata's relationship with Naruto although Hinata suspected it was just so that she could tease her and Naruto about the developments of their budding relationship.

Hinata's father, Hyuuga Hiashi, later found out about her recent activities and was greatly displeased by them, especially considering her choice of company and the fact that she actually spent the night with them in the Forest of Death of all places. Besides being the head of the prestigious Hyuuga clan, whom many would agree are generally aloof at best especially for people from the ruling main branch, Hiashi was also a cold father who seem to have lost all interest in his meek eldest daughter. His displeasure only grew when Hinata finally had the courage to argue with him after he forbade her to meet the three ever again by saying, "T-they had been m-more loving a-and more supportive to me in only two days than y-you have been for my whole life. I-I would s-sooner give up my eyes than give up on them!"

Considering that the significance of sight in the Hyuuga clan, Hinata's proclamation basically meant that she would sooner be crippled in the worst way possible than give up on her newfound friends.

Hearing Hinata's proclamation, Hiashi was uncharacteristically livid at her defiance and slapped her. He would have proceeded to cruelly berate his own daughter had Naruto and Hoyuki not decided to follow her in secret after earlier noticing that Hinata was more frightened of returning home than staying in the Forest of Death. Hearing Anko's description of the Hyuuga clan did nothing to assure them hence why they used their unique stalking techniques to sneak into the Hyuuga compound. Seeing their friend struck down by her own father, both Naruto and Hoyuki released their respective killing intent upon him.

While Hiashi would never openly admit it, he was quite honestly terrified when he suddenly felt two forces of killing intent which had opposing but ultimately similar malicious natures. From one source was a cold feeling like an empty void that made his skin metaphorically burn from the heat suddenly fleeing from his chilled bones. As for the other source, it was a fiery feeling of black-hot rage which metaphorically numbed his skin as the flesh beneath seemed to burn. Before the man knew it, both Naruto and Hoyuki stood between him and Hinata, snarling like monsters as they continued to release their terrible killing intent respectively. Had it not been for the fact that they made it clear that they were protecting Hinata from him, Hiashi would not have hesitated to attack them with the aid of his clansmen. When the man argued that his business with his own daughter had nothing to do with them, Naruto called his argument "bullshit" while Hoyuki gave Hiashi the mother of all call outs against his "parenting skills"…

(Scene Change)

Glaring hatefully at Hiashi, Hoyuki verbally snarled, "Family? How is THIS family? You hurt child!"

Still wearing his lofty expression, Hiashi glared at the snarling slavering girl and asked, "And what do you know about family, monster? From what I hear, your kind live like ants with the mindless drones obeying their queen's every whim." Hearing Hiashi say that made the lower-ranked branch members of the Hyuuga clan, who are forced to bear seals on their foreheads which can either cause them pain or even kill them to ensure their continued loyalty to the main branch, understandably upset.

Before an infuriated Naruto could argue, Hoyuki verbally shrieked, "Hive IS family! Family protect their own! Queen's birth, protect and lead children! Children serve Queen and help each other! Children may kill sibling to become new Queen but never betray Queen! Queen may lead children to death but never betray children! You hurt, not protect, abandon, not lead! YOU BETRAYED HER!"

Hearing Hoyuki's outburst, which more or less screamed the fact that he was hurting Hinata, his own eldest daughter, in ways which even her own kind, which are supposedly an entire species of mindless and heartless monsters, deem morally unacceptable, Hiashi was for once in his life stunned to the point of silently gaping. Even the other Hyuuga clansmen were stunned as they never expected anyone to talk back to Hiashi, and actually win a strong enough moral high-ground to silence or even humble him. Staring at the expression of outrage on Hoyki's face, Hiashi turned his attention to Naruto who quickly recovered from his own amazement and proceeded to glare at Hiashi with his presently blood-red eyes. Hiashi then turned his attention to Hinata, especially at the bruise on her cheek courtesy of his moment of outrage at her defiance. As he looked at Hinata, he unwillingly saw an image of his beloved late wife, whom Hinata resembled, suffering similar abuse in both physical and emotional.

"Am I… really betraying our own daughter…?" He asked himself.

Faced with the reality of how he had treated his own daughter, whom his late wife loved dearly and his younger twin brother died to protect, Hiashi already knew the answer which he had tried to ignore for years. With the cold unfeeling wall around his heart cracking, as was his heart, Hiashi's eyes became moist with tears he had not shed ever since the death of his wife…

(End Flashback)

Hinata yelped in pain as Hoyuki struck her stomach with her tail. Even when using the blunt side, her tail still packed a punch as Hinata was knocked down. Nevertheless, nearly all of the spectators were amazed as they later realized Hinata actually managed to inflict injury on Hoyuki, something which only a few of the boys could accomplish. Nursing her partially disabled tail, courtesy of Hinata using her Jyuuken, Hoyuki said, "Jyuuken, dangerous."

Coughing, Hinata wore a pained smile as she replied, "I could say the same about your tail, Hoyuki-chan."

Letting her partially disabled tail drag along the ground, Hoyuki smiled at Hinata and said, "You're getting better, sister."

Struggling back onto her feet, Hinata replied, "But not good enough."

"Even strong Queens grow old and weak. Hive always starts weak but can grow strong."

Understanding Hoyuki's meaning, Hinata resumed her taijutsu stance and said, "I know, and I plan to grow strong, strong enough to stand by those that I care for so that they will not be forsaken and alone like I was, to stand before them to protect them when they are helpless and to guide them when they are lost, to hold them close to comfort them when they are hurt and to bring them back up when they fall, and to stand behind them as I believe in them even if they don't believe in themselves."

Activating her Byakugan, the sincerity in Hinata's brave smile made her outright beautiful even with the pulsating veins around her eyes due to the Byakugan and the dirt covering her face, thus accidentally captivating almost every boy in the class, even Naruto who now felt certain he was really starting to fall in love with her. "I will not give up in that ambition nor will I forsake or betray those that I care for as that is my way of the ninja!"

Hearing Hinata's oath, Hoyuki was actually grinning widely, showing her impressive teeth as drool flowed freely from her lips and hot vapor exhaled from her opened maw, thus scaring Sasuke and even Shino who were sweating slightly at her expression. Kiba on the other hand was hugging Akamaru like a frightened little girl while Chouji was actually holding onto his bag of potato chips as though ready to offer it to the apparently crazed girl as a means of appeasement. Considering the almost hungrily predatory look on Hoyuki's grinning expression, no one could really blame them.

Naruto on the other hand was simply feeling sheepish as he knew her expression meant that she was actually getting excited by the fight to the point of facially expressing it. "Hey, go easy on Hinata-chan, Hoyuki-chan!"

Hearing her brother's request, Hoyuki only nodded as the two combatants faced one another. After a moment of tense silence, Hoyuki suddenly charged towards Hinata, intent on overpowering through her Jyuuken to defeat her as she knew that stealth was useless in this match against the Hyuuga girl. Hinata however was prepared and gathered her remaining strength into her right arm. Then, just as Hoyuki was about to collide into her, Hinata suddenly unleashed a barrage of blinding-fast chakra-enhanced strikes using only her right arm. Shocked by the technique, which must have been inspired by Hoyuki's tail if the spearing and whipping motion of her arm is of any indication, the spectators could only stare in amazement as Hoyuki was actually defeated due to having all of her limbs disabled by Hinata's unusual variation of Jyuukan. Despite her apparent victory, Hinata suffered as well as her right arm was now screaming in agony due to the strain she forced it through.

Clutching her agonized arm, Hinata was struggling to suppress her tears from the pain as Naruto quickly stood by her side and said, "That… was awesome, Hinata-chan!"

Looking at Naruto with tears welling in her eyes, Hinata wore a smile and replied, "Thank you…" Hinata then fainted, not from being close to the boy she has a crush on but due to sheer physical exhaustion, the pain in her arm and her relief in knowing that she had done well.

Cradling the unconscious girl in his arms, Naruto turned his attention to Hoyuki and asked, "You ok, Hoyuki-chan?"

Wearing a small but friendly grin despite her defeat, Hoyuki replied, "Yes. Tend sister."

Nodding, Naruto requested Iruka, "Please take care of my sister, Iruka-sensei."

Recovering from his amazement, Iruka smiled reassuringly at Naruto and replied, "Don't worry, I will." Naruto then quickly took Hinata to the infirmary, never noticing that the fangirls, who decided to follow Hinata after she actually decided to skip the flower-arrangement class, watching the entire spectacle in mute amazement…

(Scene Change)

The first to recover was Ino as she turned her attention to the other girls and asked, "D-did you see that?"

Nodding, Sakura whispered, "She… she actually managed to beat that monster."

"That… timid loser actually beat her…" said Ami.

"Does that mean… Hinata is stronger that Hoyuki?"

Shaking her head, Ino said, "Of course not, Hinata was using Jyuuken." As the Hyuuaga clan is well known, especially for their Byakugana nd Jyuuken, it was no surprise that everyone in Konohagakure has at least some idea of them. "She must have used it to beat her."

"So does that mean that Hinata was cheating?"

Glaring at the unnamed fangirl, Sakura said, "Of course she's cheating, all she has to do is disable that freak with just a few taps which somehow still count as taijutsu!"

"Maybe, but I don't think any of us can call her a coward after seeing that."

Hearing Ino's statement, none of the fangirls could argue against her point no matter how much some of them wish to do otherwise. The look on Hoyuki's face as she wore that horrific wide grin would haunt them for some nights to come.

Still in a state of disbelief, Sakura asked, "But how did that girl, who likes Naruto of all people, get so strong?"

(Scene Change)

As the girls wondered about Hinata, so did the boys as they could not believe that the shy girl actually managed to beat Hoyuki even though the tailed girl was obviously holding back for Hinata's sake, quite generously in fact. The fact that Hinata did not faint or freeze in fright from Hoyuki's terrible expression alone was an admirable achievement of courage as far as many of them were concerned.

Adjusting his sunglasses, Shino mused, "To think that someone as mild-mannered and meek as Hinata not only befriended such a dangerous individual but even grew strong enough to defeat her in an admittedly friendly match… I would need to do an immediate reassessment of Hoyuki."

Sasuke on the other hand was displeased by the fact that Hoyuki had just made another person stronger when it could have been him gaining that strength. "What does she see in them anyway?" The vengeful boy never considered that Hoyuki would gladly help any of her loved ones become stronger. He also failed to see wisdom in Hinata's vow to grow stronger as it went against everything he believes an avenger should be.

Iruka, who was currently cradling the limp child who was surprisingly small and slender despite her strength and capacity for ferocity, smiled at Hoyuki and asked, "You went easy on her, didn't you?"

Nodding, Hoyuki replied, "Sister knows too."

"I'm proud, of the both of you."

Surprised, Hoyuki asked, "Why both?"

"I doubt that I need to explain about Hinata's growth but, in your case, I'm proud because you held back so that she can become stronger at her own pace, something which her own clan seem to fail in realizing." The scarred teacher then wore a grin as he added, "I just wish you held back more for the other boys, even Naruto despite his ability to heal."

Now understanding what Iruka meant, Hoyuki wore a small smile as she replied, "I do hold back, move as fast and hit as hard as they, unless I don't like them or they want hard training."

"Well that explains how Naruto became so strong so quickly," Iruka mused. Indeed, Naruto was presently strong enough to be easily on par or stronger than the likes of Kiba and Sasuke when it comes to taijutsu. Knowing the boy, he must have requested Hoyuki to train him as hard as reasonably possible if his frequent defeats and bloody injuries from their spars are of any indication. "I'll have to remind that troublemaker the importance of restraint…"

Thus ended another day in the ninja academy of Konohagakure, a day which will be remembered as the day Hinata impressed everyone, even the fangirls who still think her crush on Naruto is nothing short of crazy…

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**And so ends chapter three!**

**What will become of them all!**

**How does Sasuke feel about Hoyuki?**

**Why do I hate Potatoes?**

**All this and more next time!**

**Read... Review... Follow... Favorite... then go to sleep my pretties...**


	5. Chapter 5

**Behold the greatness of HellkingUzumaki!**

**Here is yet part five of the twelve chapters I adopted for this story. On that note I have two chapters ready to go the moment the last of the adopted chapters is up. **

**On that same train of thought I feel I should inform you that the next chapter of No-Life Prince should come out sometime this weekend if not sooner**

**Review Replies!**

**HorusRa: A new form is already planned. For the time being though Praetorian will be the most used.**

**firelordeg: Thanks for the support!**

**Dage: No idea really, I just don't. I do like cereal though.**

**gamelover41592: Semi-permanent.**

**One last thing...**

**OMFG! VFSnake read one of my stories! _(Squeal!) _Sorry, had a bit of a fanboy moment there. Seriously though I am deeply honored by his actions, I feel like I have made a huge step into the world of Fanfiction writing.**

**Anyway enjoy yet another of Raja-Ulat's chapters.**

* * *

Chapter 4: New Bonds

Hinata was happily humming as she prepared three lunchboxes. It had been two days after her taijutsu match with Hoyuki and, having recovered enough to use her right arm, decided to prepare some lunchboxes for herself as well as Naruto and his sister. She still could hardly believe that so much had occurred over the few days after her friendship with Hoyuki began. Even more surprising was that her father had finally started to repair his estranged relationship with her, in his own way anyway. While Hinata was sure that her father will not express his affections openly anytime soon, if ever, she was nevertheless glad that he had finally stopped seeing her as a lost cause of a Hyuuga heir and more as his own daughter.

Suddenly, Hinata felt someone staring at her and subtly activated her Byakugan to see her younger sister, Hanabi, observing her intently. While more confident in her abilities and outgoing than Hinata, Hanabi is still a young girl at heart and was understandably curious about Hinata's recent activities, especially when it comes to Naruto and Hoyuki.

Smiling at Hanabi's still-childish antics despite the fact that she had adapted better to Hiashi's strict upbringing than she herself had, Hinata said, "You know, you can always ask me directly, Hanabi-chan."

Pouting at being discovered, Hanabi stepped into the kitchen and asked, "Are you… going out on a date with that boy that sneaked into our house?"

Left unsaid was that the younger girl was impressed that Naruto and Hoyuki were able to sneak into the Hyuuga compound undetected. Had they not released their killing intent which truthfully terrified her, Hanabi and the other Hyuuga clansmen would have never known that they had even snuck in.

Somehow able to stop herself from squeaking or yelping, Hinata blushed as she hesitantly replied, "Well… not really… n-not today anyway."

Quirking an eyebrow, Hanabi asked, "But why not? I thought you always liked that boy."

After Naruto and Hoyuki left the house on that fateful day, Hinata finally admitted to the clan that she had always admired Naruto who inspired her to become stronger regardless of her failings. The young girl still could not understand why the older clansmen were so displeased by the fact when it was apparent that Naruto did nothing to harm her sister and had in fact helped her without even realizing it. To be honest, Hanabi was a little jealous of Naruto for being able to help her in ways she herself could not.

Twiddling her fingers, Hinata explained, "Well…the truth is… we s-sort of already had a date…"

Rather than satisfying her curiosity, Hinata's admission only made it grow as the normally polite girl suddenly wore a wide grin and eagerly asked, "When did that happen? Where did you two date? How did it go? Did you two hold hands, or kiss?"

Feeling embarrassed, Hinata nevertheless answered Hanabi's questions, "Well…"

(Flashback)

Despite Hinata's injury from her taijutsu match with Hoyuki on the previous day, Hinata was allowed to attend the ninja academy as usual with the exception that she would not be able to write and would need to rest rather than attend any outdoor lessons, especially taijutsu. Lying on her bed in the infirmary, Hinata was honestly feeling a little bored when Naruto appeared in the infirmary.

Blushing deeply, Hinata asked, "W-what are you d-doing here, Naruto-kun?"

Grinning sheepishly, Naruto explained, "Well, I actually wanted to check up on you and Iruka-sensei allowed me to."

Happy that Naruto was concerned for her, Hinata smiled and gratefully replied, "T-thank you."

Feeling bashful from her smile, Naruto asked, "W-would you mind if I take a seat next to you?"

Hinata was certain her face was glowing as she spoke in reply, "O-o-of course not!"

Taking a seat next to Hinata, the blushing blond boy asked, "So… is there anything you want to talk about?"

"W-well, I'm a bit curious why Hoyuki-chan is not with you."

"Iruka-sensei said that only one of us needed to check on you and Hoyuki-chan agreed that I should be the one seeing you."

Making a mental note to thank the tailed girl, Hinata asked, "So, w-what do want to do, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto scratched his whisker marks nervously as he admitted, "To be honest, I didn't plan that far."

After what seemed to be a long moment of awkward silence, Hinata finally asked, "N-Naruto-kun?"

Suddenly attentive from her voice, Naruto asked, "Yes, Hinata-chan?"

"C-can I… touch your whiskers?"

Blinking in surprise at her unexpected request, Naruto felt a little nervous as he spoke, "Sure, I guess."

Adjusting herself to a comfortable sitting position, Hinata reached out with her left hand and touched his whisker-like birthmarks which she had been curious about ever since she first knew of him. Her fascination was apparent as she tenderly stroked against the marks which felt rough like scars on his cheeks. She then noticed that Naruto was making a face and was trembling slightly.

Worried by his reaction, she asked, "D-does it hurt?"

Naruto expressed his uncertainty as he answered, "Well… not really, it just kind of tickles."

"Tickles?" asked Hinata as she tilted her head.

"Yeah, like having your foot or tummy tickled."

Suddenly feeling a little mischievous, which she would later claim she must had acquired from the two Uzumaki siblings, Hinata smiled impishly as cupped his cheek and continued to stroke it tenderly like stroking a kitten or a puppy.

Feeling the ticklish sensation from his whisker marks, Naruto blushed slightly as he spoke, "You're doing this on purpose, aren't you."

Giggling slightly, Hinata teased, "M-maybe."

Naruto wore a grin as he replied, "You're getting pretty bold you know."

Suddenly feeling uneasy, Hinata asked, "D-do you… d-dislike bold girls?"

Scratching the back of his head, Naruto answered, "Well, not really. I still think you're pretty cute even when you're being bold and I doubt ANYONE can be as bold as Anko-neechan."

Giggling in agreement with Naruto about Anko, as her manner of dress alone is a testament to that, Hinata then asked, "S-so you really d-don't mind?"

"Sure, why would I lie to my precious person?"

Touched by his thoughtful response, Hinata tentatively spoke, "W-would you… l-like to touch my cheek?"

Surprised by her offer, Naruto hesitated before he asked, "You sure?"

Encouraged by her timid nod, Naruto tentatively cupped her cheek with his own left hand. When his hand finally touched and held her soft unblemished cheek, Naruto looked into her pale lavender eyes with his own cerulean-blue eyes and felt time slowing down to a halt as they held each other's cheek. Feeling her warm cheek against his hand and her delicate hand against his own flushing cheek, Naruto suddenly felt very self-conscious as he shyly looked away. Hinata felt the same as she looked away as well, especially due to the fact that they appeared to be almost kissing. Despite their mutual embarrassment, neither wanted to take each other's hand off the other's cheek and any observer would almost swear seeing a pink heart floating over them…

End Flashback

"…a-and before we knew it, i-it was already time for the nest lesson."

After hearing about Hinata's date of sorts, Hanabi was blushing almost as deeply as Hinata before she suddenly cupped her cheeks with both hands and actually squealed in delight, "Aw, that's just so sweet!"

Surprised at Hanabi's unexpected reaction, Hinata then giggled at her response and said, "Yeah, it r-really was."

Neither girl noticed that their father had overheard the entire conversation as he stood just beside the door into the kitchen. While glad that his daughter was finally obtaining her happiness and would do nothing to stop her, Hiashi nevertheless made a mental note to threaten Naruto with a Jyuuken strike at his testicles if he ever dares to break her heart. As Hiashi made that mental note, Naruto suddenly felt a shiver run down his spine and the blond boy somehow knew it had something to do with his relationship with Hinata…

(Scene Change)

Later that same day, Naruto, Hinata and Hoyuki were having lunch during the academy's lunch break, with Hinata sitting in between the two siblings. Having never eaten a homemade lunchbox before, both Uzumaki siblings were understandably ecstatic as they ate. Filling her cheeks with food like a hamster, Hoyuki happily exclaimed via telepathy, "Food, tasty!" It was apparent that she got some of her eating habits from Naruto.

Giggling at their antics, Hinata was glad that they loved her cooking. Glancing at Naruto, Hinata blushed as she remembered what she had told Hanabi earlier that morning. Gathering her courage, Hinata was about to ask if Naruto wanted to go out on a date with her when a voice suddenly asked, "May I take a seat?"

Surprised, everyone turned their attention to none other than Shino. While unsure why Shino would make that request, they saw no reason not to let him sit with them as Hinata politely spoke, "S-sure, Shino-san."

Nodding in thanks, Shino took a seat beside Naruto and took out his own lunchbox before saying, "There is something which I would like to discuss about."

Raising an eyebrow, Naruto asked, "And what would that be?"

Adjusting his sunglasses, Shino explained, "It had recently come to my attention that Hoyuki, while openly admitting that she originated from a species of viciously dangerous eusocial parasitoid aliens, was able to befriend Hinata whom I initially thought would be the last person to ever approach her. As it is apparent that my earlier, and less-than-flattering, opinions of her were flawed by my admittedly biased first impression on her, I had decided to reassess her. Unfortunately, observation from a respectable distance can only provide so much information and, as such, I would like to strike a direct conversation with her, her brother and her friend to understand her better, hence my reason for taking a seat beside you three."

Hearing Shino's elaborate explanation, Naruto wore a blank expression before he tilted his head and asked, "What?"

Almost sighing at Naruto's apparently still-present inability to process long elaborate explanations, Shino summarized, "What I meant is, may I get to know you three better?"

Finally realizing what Shino meant to say and the possible implications, Naruto wore a wide grin and said, "Sure, feel free to ask anything!"

Hinata wore a small smile and nodded in affirmation while Hoyuki continued to gaze at Shino curiously.

Nodding in understanding, Shino said, "Very well." Turning his attention to Hoyuki, Shino asked, "While I am at least vaguely aware of your original species, I would like to know them in full, if you do not mind."

Hoyuki pondered for a moment before she nodded and replied, "Alright." The tailed girl then gave Shino as well as Naruto and Hinata a full explanation of her original species…

(Scene Change)

Hoyuki's original species is infamously known across the stars by many names, Zerg, which means the Insidious Infestors, Tyranids, which means the Terrible Nightmares, Sleazoids, which means the Living Demons, Kiande Amedha, which means the Hard Meat, and, somehow most appropriately, Xenomorphs, which means the Alien Forms, or Internecivus raptus, which means the Murderous Thieves. Created as a species of bio-engineered monsters by a race of space-faring giants known as the Mala'Kak, the Xenomorphs were used as living weapons during a time of brutal civil war. Engineered to become the ultimate killers which cannot even breed without killing, the Xenomorphs are capable of devastating entire planets as they kill off every living thing in their path. Even the webbing used to build their hives is deadly as it is actually a living thing which will destroy the local ecosystem as it spreads across the planet. However, despite the measures their creators took to prevent it from happening, the Xenomorphs eventually turned against their masters and killed them all as a result.

Besides the Mala'Kak, the Xenomorphs had encountered many other alien races such as the Yautja, a race of proud hunters that actually breed them to serve as the ultimate prey, the Cybertronians, a race of giant living machines capable of transforming their bodies into other forms, the Poleepkwa, a race of humanoid arthropods which have tentacles around their mouths as well as two pairs of limbs, the Orks, a race of green-skinned ape-like brutes which literally live for fighting, the Andalites, a race of blue-furred centaur-like beings with four eyes and bladed tails, the Wookies, hairy bestial humanoids which are nevertheless more than sufficiently skilled and intelligent enough to travel between the stars, the Sangheili, a race of lizard-like humanoids with four lower mandibles and digitigrade feet, the Chozo, a race of ancient birdmen which had existed even during the time of the Mala'Kak's height of power, and, most unusual of all, humans…

(Scene Change)

"Wait, so you're saying that your home universe had humans too?" asked Shino.

Nodding, Hoyuki explained, "Humans back there and here not too different. No Chakra, but higher technology. Usually try to kill us or catch us to make us their slaves."

Adjusting his sunglasses, Shino said, "That… was unexpected." Turning his attention to Naruto, Shino asked, "And judging from your lack of response, I'm assuming that you knew all of this as well?"

Unlike Hinata who was equally amazed, Naruto still maintained his normal expression.

"Yup, she told me just about everything about her race not long after we started living together." Naruto was sheepish was he added, "But truth be told, I can't remember half of the complicated things she tells me."

Not surprised by the fact, Shino turned his attention to Hoyuki and asked, "So what are your hives like, if I may ask?"

"Hive is family. Queen is mother, lays eggs. Eggs hatch to what some call facehuggers. Facehuggers put larva in host. Larva grows in host, sometimes becoming like host, becoming burster. Burster leaves host, killing host, and eats. Burster grows into adult. Adult includes drone, runner, warrior, praetorian, and queen. Drone is worker, weakest but many and makes nodes for hive webbing. Runner is scout, run on all fours and very fast but weak like drone. Warrior is soldier, larger and stronger, protecting hive and fighting enemy. Praetorian is elite guard, stronger and smarter than warrior. Queen is mother and leader of hive." Hoyuki then wore a thoughtful expression as she continued to explain like a naïve young girl, "Sometimes hive make different castes like flying queens, brood carriers, arachnoids, stalkers, flyers, swimmers, crushers, brutes, ravagers and slithers. Flying queen weaker but can fly far. Brood carrier like praetorian but weaker and carries many larvae inside like big facehugger. Arachnoid is facehugger with no host, become one with larva, small but many. Stalker is larger runner, slower but stronger, quieter and smarter. Flyer is like bird and swimmer is like fish. Crusher has hard head, block way and crush with head. Brute is bigger and stronger than praetorian but dumb and slow. Ravager like warrior, has long claws and stronger but hard to control. Slither looks like burster but bigger, stronger and burrows fast."

Fascinated, Shino asked, "And how does your kind make new queens?"

"Three ways, queen egg, praetorian or royal jelly. Queen eggs hatch into special facehuggers, lays two larvae before dying, one larva is queen. Praetorian becomes new queen if old queen is dead. Royal jelly is made by queen, can turn even drone and warrior into new queen, turn flyer into flying queen."

"I am assuming that your hives favour the egg method while the latter two methods are for emergency reestablishment of a hive or hives in the event of a queen's death. The royal jelly method even more so as it only applies when there is no praetorians left to take over the hive as a new queen."

"Correct."

"Are there any special characteristics of your kind which we should know about?"

"Our blood can melt through many things, but our skin does not melt. Our memory is shared with hive and we remember everything our mother and host know. We don't feel boredom, pleasure, fear, love, hate, joy, grief, hope, despair but we feel loss, gain, pain, relief." Hoyuki then wore a sheepish smile as she admitted, "We never knew human emotion could be so strong, so complicated."

A little perplexed at the contradiction, Shino asked, "Even with their memories?"

"We remember thoughts, memories, not emotion beyond what we can feel. We also cannot understand to make technology."

Hearing Hoyuki's explanation, Shino mused, "I suppose that is to be expected. If her kind is as intelligent as I think they are, making them incapable of true empathy would ensure that they remain effective as living weapons while their inability to make their own technology will ensure that their kind will never travel between worlds while their more unique forms will allow them to travel between continents within the world they are bound to." Deciding to change the topic, Shino asked, "So what is your opinion about humans, now that you are one yourself, Hoyuki-san?"

Frowning slightly, Hoyuki then replied, "Strange. Humans, especially bad humans, think they are greater than all, even when they are not. Even Queen Mothers, mothers of queens, do not think that way. Humans can think but often do not, maybe because of strong emotion or dumb instincts, like fangirl instincts. Humans don't like killing, makes no sense because killing necessary to eat, to live. Humans can betray even family, because they can choose to, which is madness." Shrugging, Hoyuki added, "I'm surprised humans not extinct yet."

Shino smiled at the ironic truth in her words as he spoke, "Yes, we must be most strange indeed by the standards of your original kin."

Deciding that he had heard enough about her kind, although he made a mental note to ask more about the humans and different alien races of her home universe, Shino asked, "Is there anything which you would like to ask of me?" It is only polite that the person who answered your questions should be allowed to ask for answers from you in return.

"Yes, are you a hive?" Hoyuki asked curiously.

Surprised, as he was sure he had kept his kikaichuu, small beetle-like insects which live in symbiosis with members of the Aburame clan thus granting them their unique clan abilities, hidden inside his own body which serves as their living hive, Shino asked, "How did you know?"

"I sense link, between you and your hive."

Feeling apprehensive, which made his insides literally crawl in agitation, Shino asked, "Are you… put off by it?"

Many people, especially girls, are put off by the kikaichuu as well as the calm logical behavior of most Aburame clan members.

Shaking her head, Hoyuki replied, "No, hive is small but still hive, family, to you."

Seeing Hoyuki's small but sincere smile, Shino released a breath he did not know he was holding as he was for some reason glad that Hoyuki took no offense over his unique clan abilities. "Your understanding is… appreciated, Hoyuki-san."

"May I see?"

Once again surprised, Shino turned his attention towards Naruto and Hinata who nodded in consent before he said, "Alright, but only a little."

After Hoyuki nodded in acceptance, Shino rolled up his sleeve and allowed the beetle-like kikaichuu crawl out of pores on his skin while specialized veins beneath his skin seem to undulate with the moving insects. Rather than scaring or disgusting the tailed girl, the sight of the crawling insects actually fascinated her as she gazed at the insects with an almost child-like expression of wonder on her face.

Drawing her face closer to Shino's arm to get a better look at the insects crawling over and inside his exposed forearm, Hoyuki said, "Little drones… kind of cute."

It was apparent that her words were the last thing any of the other three children expected to hear as Naruto sputtered in dumbfounded shock while Hinata wore a bewildered expression and Shino's swarm was actually buzzing in surprise.

Raising both eyebrows over his sunglasses, Shino asked, "You actually think of them as… cute?"

Nodding, Hoyuki explained, "Tiny, round, have beady eyes, cute." Considering her alien origins, it was probably not that strange an explanation from her in hindsight.

Hearing her innocent explanation, Shino actually chuckled softly into his fist, thus surprising both Naruto and Hinata as he spoke, "You truly are an interesting person, Uzumaki Hoyuki." Packing away his lunchbox, despite the fact that he had not even opened it, Shino then stood up and bowed to the three seated children as he spoke, "I thank you for your enlightening words and, more importantly, your acceptance, Hoyuki-san. May we meet again?"

Considering Shino's offer, Hoyuki then nodded and replied with a small smile, "I don't mind. You seem different from other humans, more like my original kind, Hive-Shino."

Knowing that Hoyuki was trying to compliment him, Shino smiled beneath the tall collar of his jacket and replied, "Then it shall be my pleasure, Hoyuki-san."

As the tall boy left the three, Naruto turned his attention to Hinata as if to ask, "Is he…"

Blushing slightly, Hinata wondered the same thing as she gazed at Hoyuki and thought, "…starting to like Hoyuki-chan "that" way?"

(Scene Change)

Equally surprised by the implications were Ino and Sakura who were eavesdropping on the four children.

Wearing a horrified expression, Ino said, "Can you imagine what their kids will be like?"

Sakura, who was considered the brightest girl in class for a reason, could only nod in mute understanding as she imagined a mini-version of Hoyuki wearing Shino's coat, sunglasses and, most horrifying of all, having his "unique" clan traits in addition to her own freaky weirdness. Both girls shuddered at the thought before proceeding to spread word to the entire academy faculty…

(Scene Change)

Sakura and Ino were not the only ones as Kiba, Shikamaru and Chouji also overheard the conversation and were equally surprised themselves. Turning his attention to the other two with a comical gaping expression on his face, Kiba asked, "Did… Shino actually try to ask that freaky girl out?" Akamaru, which was riding on top of his head as usual, whined as though frightened by the mere idea of Shino and Hoyuki dating.

His potato chips temporarily forgotten, Chouji replied, "Sure seems that way."

Frowning, Shikamaru muttered, "This… will get troublesome."

"Gee, you think? We're talking about a walking bug-hive and the freakiest girl in the entire village here!" exclaimed Kiba.

"Personally, I'm not too surprised. Hoyuki did say she did not mind his hive and even called his insects cute."

Nodding in agreement with Chouji, Shikamaru said, "Hearing that will make anyone from his clan appreciate her, even if Shino used to be absolutely terrified of her until Hoyuki became friends with Hinata."

Scratching the back of his neck, Kiba said, "Yeah, and I still can't believe Hinata actually became friends with her. I mean, sure we now know that Hinata had liked Naruto for a long time but you'd think that she would be too scared to get close to that girl."

"I wouldn't be too sure of that. Unless I'm mistaken, Hoyuki may be the type to accept anyone who will be on good terms with her "hive"," said Shikamaru.

Raising an eyebrow, Kiba asked, "Wait, you mean she thinks of Naruto as her own "pack"?"

"That's exactly what I mean," confirmed Shikamaru.

"So, you think we can be friends with her because we know her brother?" asked Chouji. The three of them used to hang out together with Naruto to skip class or otherwise cause mischief, to the aggravation of Umino Iruka.

Shrugging, Shikamaru replied, "In theory, yes. But I doubt Naruto will still see us as friends if we don't like Hoyuki."

"Yeah, I can understand that. I won't like anyone that doesn't like Akamaru." Akamaru yipped in agreement with Kiba.

Turning his attention back to the three seated children, Chouji said, "Well, Hoyuki does seem friendly enough."

"Heck, if someone as timid as Hinata and as weird as Shino can be friends with her, I guess Akamaru and I can at least try to stop judging her by her scent and get to know her better." Both the boy and the puppy shivered as he added, "But I'm definitely NOT going to get on her bad side if I can avoid it."

All three boys and one puppy nodded in solemn agreement as they remembered what happened to Hibachi when he insulted Hoyuki by calling her a freak during taijutsu class. As he was also responsible for getting Naruto into trouble, of the life-threatening sort, during Naruto's early days in the academy, Hoyuki was already on less than pleasant terms with him and his insult was just the excuse she needed to give him a piece of her mind. By the time Hoyuki was done with Hibachi, the boy's clothes were completely torn to shreds with light but painful scratch marks all over him. The boy was so badly traumatized by the event that he became a whimpering mess and would try to flee or hide from her whenever he sees her ever since. Needless to say, his parents were less than happy with the incident.

Understanding of Kiba and Akamaru's initial fear towards Hoyuki due to her dangerous and alien scent as well as her capacity for savage violence, Shikamaru nodded to them before saying, "As troublesome as it is to try and be friends with that girl, avoiding Naruto even when we used to hang out together is even more of a drag."

Chuckling at Shikamaru's statement, Chouji said, "Yeah, it certainly is troublesome."

(Scene Change)

"You seem unusually happy."

Blinking, Shino turned his attention to his father, Aburame Shibi, and asked, "Is that so?"

Nodding, the moustached man with short spiky hair asked, "Did something pleasant happen at school?"

Seeing no logic in denying his father, Shino explained about his conversation with Hoyuki earlier that day. Shibi was surprised at the revelation as he raised both of his eyebrows over his own sunglasses, which is the Aburame equivalent of gaping in wide-eyed amazement.

After Shino finished informing his father, Shibi said, "I see, that information you gleaned from her was indeed most enlightening. Am I correct in assuming that you are… starting to develop an interest in her?"

Blushing slightly at that statement, Shino replied, "I… do find her to be an interesting and understanding person." Feeling apprehensive, Shino asked, "Will that be a problem, father?"

Pondering for a moment, Shibi then replied, "No, I see no issue in your pursuit of a friendship with her. As for anything further beyond that point, you will need to find out for yourself if she sees you that way as well."

Relieved that his father did not disapprove, Shino bowed and replied, "Thank you father." Rising from the bow, Shino asked, "May I excuse myself?"

Nodding, Shibi watched his son leave the room before silently instructing his kikaichuu to send a message to the Hokage about Shino's encounter with Hoyuki and the information he had gained from her. While Hoyuki did inform the Hokage everything she knew about her species, it never hurts to use new data to check for any inconsistencies as well as update their information about the Xenomorph species. The emotional range of the Xenomorphs for example is certainly new information even for the Hokage and perhaps Hoyuki's own brother of sorts as well. Thinking about it made Shibi remember an earlier discovery which confirmed that Naruto did indeed somehow gain Hoyuki's bloodline, most likely due to being her host when she was still a larval parasitoid alien. While he lacked her physical traits, he would nevertheless be able to theoretically utilize any ninja techniques which are based on her "bloodline". When asked how it could be possible, Hoyuki almost sheepishly admitted, "Host always die, never knew it could happen."

Smiling slightly underneath the tall collar of his coat, Shibi silently hoped that Shino will get along well with Hoyuki and her "hive". While the potential of marrying a member of the Aburame clan with Hoyuki is logically desirable even by itself, a reasonable chance for his son to be truly happily married is something which any loving father would desire.

(Scene Change)

Naruto was feeling a little ambivalent as Shino approached him, Hinata and Hoyuki on the following day. While he never had any problems with the Aburame boy before, the idea that he was getting interested in Hoyuki made him feel a little protective over her. Of course, Hoyuki knew of it as well and made it clear that it was ultimately her decision to accept or reject him as a potential mate. Despite having no say in the matter, Naruto took consolation in the fact that she was at least not interested in Sasuke despite his interest in her, albeit as a rival. The mere idea of having Sasuke as a brother in law made his stomach queasy.

Smiling, Hoyuki greeted Shino, "Hello, Hive-Shino."

"Hello, Hoyuki-san," replied the Aburame boy before he greeted the other two children and took a seat beside Hoyuki, thus making Naruto glare at him a bit. Noticing the glare, Hoyuki frowned at Naruto with a slight pout which silently said, "Brother, be nice."

Unable to argue with his sister over the matter, Naruto looked away petulantly. The nonverbal exchange did not go unnoticed though as Hinata suppressed a giggle while Shino was actually smirking slightly beneath his tall collar.

Suddenly, a loud boisterous voice yelled, "Hey, Naruto!"

Facing the person who yelled, who was none other than Kiba, the four children watched in surprise as the wild boy, Shikamaru and Chouji approached them. Looking at the three, Naruto asked, "Hey guys, what brings you three here?"

"What? Can't hang out with us now that you got a sister and a girlfriend?"

Blushing at Kiba's teasing, Naruto protested, "Hey!"

Sighing at the two, Shikamaru explained, "While it'll be troublesome to get to know your sister, who can actually scare me almost as badly as my mom, not hanging out with you anymore is even more troublesome."

Realizing that Shikamaru meant that the three boys still want to hang out with him, Naruto grinned and happily let them join. Taking a seat on the grass with the other four children, the three boys noticed Hoyuki gazing at Chouji, or more accurately his bag of potato chips, with interest.

Realizing that Hoyuki was interested, Chouji asked, "Do you… want to try some?"

Hearing Chouji's offer, Hoyuki immediately nodded in response. Seeing the similarity between her responses with Akamaru's whenever Chouji was snacking on bacon, the boy offered a few chips to Hoyuki. Taking the chips, Hoyuki sniffed at them before taking a small bite.

Surprised by the crispy texture and salty flavour, Hoyuki said, "Different."

"Wait, those were your first potato chips?"

Nodding, to Chouji's comical shock, Hoyuki explained, "Many people not like me or brother, hard to get food from shop. Hunt often."

Interested, Kiba asked, "So where do you and Naruto hunt?"

"Many places, like Forest of Death best, meat tasty there."

"Wait, you and Naruto actually hunt in the Forest of Death?" asked a shocked Kiba. He may love running wild in the surrounding forests but even he knew better than go there.

Nodding, Hinata said, "T-they do."

"Do I even want to know who I should feel sorry for?" asked Shikamaru.

"Y-you better not." Hinata shuddered at the memory of that bear which tried to attack her only to be killed by Hoyuki's Shadow Burster technique which literally tore it apart from the inside by burrowing into its body. That is not even considering the way Hoyuki and even Naruto slaughtered the dead animals, which they did with disturbingly calm efficiently as they took out bloody internal organs with their own bare hands. Had it not been for her hunger and the delicious scent of roasted meat, Hinata would have no doubt been unable to eat any meat and may even choose to become a vegetarian.

Seeing Hinata's expression, the other four boys wisely decided to change the subject as Chouji asked, "So, what kind of meat you like best?"

Reaching to her upper back underneath her rags, Hoyuki suddenly took out a large piece of roasted boar's ribs and said, "Wild boar, especially ribs."

Staring at the honeyed meat which somehow appeared to be freshly-roasted, Kiba, Akamaru and Chouji were drooling while a surprised Shino asked, "Where do you keep that?"

Smiling impishly, Hoyuki replied, "Ninja secret."

Seeing the other boys turn their attention towards him, Naruto raised his hands and said, "Don't ask because I still have no idea how she does it either."

(Scene Change)

After eating lunch together with Naruto, Shino, Hinata and Hoyuki, the three boys agreed that Hoyuki was less frightening than they first imagined her to be, "partly" due to the simple fact that the tailed girl willingly shared her roasted pork ribs with them. Shikamaru, while more wary of her than the other two boys, was willing to admit that his own mother was still undisputedly scarier than Hoyuki which earned their good-natured snickers.

"So, are you two coming for that hunting trip?" asked Kiba. Hoyuki and Naruto had invited everyone to join them for some hunting in one of the safer forested areas over the weekend. Hinata and Shino of course agreed to join them while Kiba himself wanted a chance to have some fun and show off his skills.

Sighing, Shikamaru replied, "That mostly depends on my mom. Knowing her, she would want me to stay home and help her with the housework or something."

Unwilling to leave his best friend behind, Chouji said, "I'll be staying back too if Shikamaru can't join you guys."

Knowing the close friendship between the two boys, to the point some of the girls in class even had strange ideas about them, Kiba grinned and said to Shikamaru, "If it's about your mom, don't worry about it! I'll try and get my mom and nee-chan to persuade your mom to let you let you join us."

Sighing, Shikamaru gazed heavenwards towards the clouds and muttered, "If I go with them, I'll be forced to help them hunt and make camp. If I stay behind, I'll be forced to help my mom, which is arguably worse. So troublesome…"

* * *

**How will this little trip affect the Genin hopefuls?**

**Will Shino and Hoyuki become a couple?**

**Will I ever stop typing exactly what I'm thinking?**

**All this and more in the next chapter!**

**As always... Read... Review... Favorite... Follow... be good little lemmings.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hellking** **Uzumaki is back!**

**Ladies and gentlemen we have reached the halfway point of the chapters I adopted!**

**WOOOOOHOOOOOO!**

**Unfortunately it also happens to coincide with the beginning of my college testing season.**

**NNOOOOOOOOOOO!**

**Due to this updates on all stories will be far slower. Don't worry though, I refuse to let any of my stories die. It's a rule.**

**Review Replies!**

**gamelover41592: I would say thank you, but that would be taking credit away from Raja-Ulat.**

**VFSnake: Oh... My... GAWD! You read my story again! I'm so happy! (SNIFF) Can I have your Autograph? PWEASE?!**

**BLack Artist: If I can get my brain to stop creating new stories first I probably eventually will. Also there is no 'Air of insanity'. It's all insanity, trust me on this one.**

**Anyway, the story must go on!**

* * *

Chapter 5: Survival Trip

Although Naruto and Hoyuki had invited everyone to join them on a hunting trip during the weekend, their weekend-plan never came through as their entire class is currently taking part in a survival training session which would last for three days and two nights in one of the forests within the walls of Konohagakure led by their academy teachers. Grinning from ear to ear, Naruto was excited to finally show everyone other than Hoyuki, Anko and Hinata his skills as a hunter, which is actually not too different from a prankster or a ninja if you look at it from a certain perspective.

Standing before the gathered students, Iruka said, "Alright everyone, remember everything that we had taught you in the academy. You're going to need them for this survival lesson. Also, please do not hesitate to ask for assistance from any of us should you have any problems as we would be happy to help you." Naruto almost snorted at the last part as he knew all too well that only Iruka would actually help him, not that it matters anymore now that he has learnt the necessary skills and more from Hoyuki.

"…Now, feel free to choose who you will be with during the trip but do not form groups of more than seven," announced Iruka. Both Naruto and Hoyuki grinned as their group of friends had just the right number. The two of them wasted no time as they quickly gathered their friends…

(Scene Change)

Ten minutes, and a whole lot of arguing between the 'Sasuke fangirls' later, the two Uzumaki siblings had gathered the others to form a completed group of seven.

Grinning, Kiba asked, "So, what's the plan?"

"Lazy-Shadow plan for camp, sister help Lazy-Shadow find good place for camp, Hungry-Belly help Lazy-Shadow and sister make camp, brother and I hunt, Hive-Shino and Wild-Fang can choose who to help. Best make camp secure."

Blinking at Hoyuki's suggestion, Shikamaru groaned a moment later as he translated, "In other words, I am in charge of making the camp with Hinata's and Chouji's help while Hoyuki and Naruto go hunting. Kiba and Shino can choose to help either group. What a drag…"

Now understanding what Hoyuki was saying, Kiba said, "Well, why didn't you say that earlier? I'm definitely in for the hunting!"

Adjusting his sunglasses, Shino said, "I believe it would be best that we first find out if Shikamaru needs our help or not."

"Oh, come on man! It's just propping up a few tents, how hard can it be?"

"You do realize that Hoyuki just called Shikamaru, Lazy-Shadow?"

Snickering, Kiba replied to Shino, "Ok, you got me there, but I'm still going to join Naruto and Hoyuki to hunt for some dinner, got to have enough to feed everyone, including Hungry-Belly."

Dismayed at the friendly teasing, Chouji cried, "Hey, I can't help feeling hungry!"

Sighing, Shikamaru said, "Well, Kiba will be more help in finding food with that nose of his and Akamaru at any rate." Turning his attention to Shino, he said, "As for you, I think it would be a good idea for you to help us out. We could use the extra manpower and your insects may be of help to us."

Nodding, Shino replied, "Very well, I shall endeavour to help you the best I can."

With that, the group of seven children split into two teams, one to prepare their camp and another to hunt and forage for dinner. While Shikamaru's team sought for a place to set up camp, Naruto's team informed Iruka that they will set off to find dinner.

Nodding in understanding, Iruka pointed and said, "There is a river that way. You can get water and fish from there."

"What about mammal, bird and reptile meat?" asked Hoyuki.

"Well, you kids will have to find those on your own. Just don't wander too far and be sure not to eat any plants or mushrooms you see until I or another teacher at least has a look at them. Can't have you kids eat anything poisonous."

Nodding in understanding, the three children quickly set off to find the river, following Iruka's directions.

As soon as they found the river, Kiba shouted, "Alright, first one to get a fish eats the alpha's share!"

Taking off his shirt, the boy was about to dive into the river with Akamaru to catch some fish when Hoyuki told them, "Stop, I hunt fish. Wild-Fang and brother find other food."

Looking at the girl, Kiba was about to argue when Naruto explained, "Hoyuki's tail is really fast. She can use it to get fish for us."

Remembering how fast Hoyuki's tail could move, Kiba nodded and said, "Ok then." Turning his attention to Naruto, Kiba grinned and said, "So, who do you think will be top dog of hunting?"

Grinning, Naruto boasted, "I may lose to Hoyuki-chan but I'm definitely a better hunter than you." Crouching low as though ready to pounce, Naruto added, "Better have Akamaru help you out, you're going to need it!"

"Bring it!"

With that, the two boys went their separate ways to find food while Hoyuki almost sighed at their antics and proceeded to get into the river. Using her tail, Hoyuki quickly whipped and speared some fishes for dinner…

(Scene Change)

An hour had passed since Naruto's group had left when a crisis occurred in Shikamaru's group. Chouji was feeling hungry and did not have anything to eat. Hearing the near-constant rumblings of Chouji's belly, Shino was feeling almost annoyed as he mused, "Well, at least Chouji's not complaining about it, much." While the large boy did not complain much verbally, his pained forlorn expression was clear enough an indication that he really needs to eat something.

"Need food?"

Everyone in Shikamaru's grouped turned their attention to Hoyuki who was carrying an impressive assortment of fishes. Staring at the girl, Chouji's eyes practically sparkled as he nodded vigorously in affirmation.

Smirking at his friend, Shikamaru told Hoyuki, "You could say that."

Wearing a small smile, Hoyuki handed the fishes to Hinata who quickly proceeded to clean and scale one of them while Chouji wasted no time to prepare a campfire.

Noticing that Naruto and Kiba are not with Hoyuki, Shino asked her, "Where are those two?"

Shaking her head, Hoyuki explained, "Compete."

Now understanding what was going on, both Shikamaru and Shino sighed in unison as they knew that it would take a while for the two to get back, assuming that they did not get lost or bite more than they can chew. Placing his hand onto his forehead, Shikamaru groaned, "Those two are so troublesome sometimes…" Shino meanwhile released his Kikaichuu and instructed them to spread out to find the two troublemakers.

Knowing what Shino was doing, Hoyuki nodded appreciatively as she spoke, "I find brother. Wild-Fang has puppy to help if lost."

"Alright, but be sure to return here before sundown. We may be within the walls of Konohagakure but it never hurts to be safe," replied Shino.

Smiling Hoyuki replied, "True, but dark is where I belong." She then disappeared in a puff of strangely black smoke...

(Scene Change)

Fortunately, nothing bad occurred to either boy who returned not long after Shino's insects found them, unless you count Kiba's pride. While Kiba managed to catch a rabbit, Naruto somehow managed to catch a rabbit as well as gather several kinds of edible plants, nuts, berries and mushrooms. Hoyuki on the other hand managed to find a tree with ripe fruits while searching for Naruto and wasted no time to gather some on the way back to camp. Scowling at Naruto's impressive assortment of food, Kiba muttered, "I'm so going to beat you one of these days, Naruto."

Grinning for ear to ear, Naruto replied, "Dream on, dog boy."

Hearing Akamaru whine, Kiba comforted the puppy, "Hey, don't worry buddy, we'll get even with Naruto one of these days."

"Say, are these for dinner or can we have some right now?" asked Chouji.

The fishes Hinata cooked were delicious and he would have helped himself with some more had she not made it clear that the others will want their share as well. Although always hungry for food, Chouji is not the type to leave others starving or deprived of food, not even to enjoy the last portion which he claims is always the tastiest.

"They're for dinner, so wait until dinnertime," deadpanned the two boys Chouji asked.

A little disappointed, Chouji said, "Alright, just asking."

Hinata giggled at the interaction between the three boys while Hoyuki shook her head with a small smile on her face. Shino's own smile was hidden behind the tall collar of his jacket while Shikamaru smirked at his best friend's apparently bottomless pit of a stomach. Passing Chouji a fruit, she said, "Not much but will do until dinner."

"Thanks!" replied an appreciative Chouji before taking a big bit out of the fruit.

Observing the seven children was Iruka who smiled at their antics and knew who he will hang out with when dinnertime arrives…

(Scene Change)

Before long, it was sundown and, with the assortment of ingredients the three hunter-gatherers managed to obtain and Hinata's cooking with Chouji's help, the seven children in Naruto's group enjoyed a good dinner. Their private feast did not go unnoticed as everyone around them noted the smell of Hinata's good cooking, to the ire of those who expected if not hoped that Naruto's group would fail. Sasuke's group, which mainly consisted of the Uchiha boy and six fangirls, on the other hand did not fare as well as expected, mostly because the fangirls knew little about hunting and gathering for food. Sasuke on the other hand at least knew how to take care of himself but had no interest in helping the others. How the fangirls, including Sakura, Ino and Ami, still fail to realize that Sasuke just had no interest in them was anyone's guess.

Sitting with the seven children was Iruka as he praised Hinata's cooking, "That roasted rabbit you made was really good, Hinata." The other six children nodded in appreciative agreement with him.

Blushing at their praise, Hinata said, "T-thank you, b-but it's really Naruto-kun, Kiba-san and Hoyuki-chan that found everything I prepared for dinner a-and Chouji-san helped a lot too."

Grinning, Kiba playfully quipped, "Which is quite surprising. I was sure he would try to sneak a bite or two while helping Hinata cook."

Looking offended, Chouji argued, "Hey, I may love eating good food but even I know that cooking needs lots of attention, dedication and discipline!"

Blinking at the large boy's statement, Naruto then deadpanned, "You know, if you had put that kind of effort in becoming a ninja, you'd probably beat even Sasuke-teme."

"Like you did any better than him until Hoyuki helped you out," said an equally deadpan Shikamaru. The other three boys nodded in agreement with Shikamaru.

"Hey!"

Chuckling, Iruka then asked, "So, who's up for a good horror story?"

Cringing in fear, Naruto nervously asked, "D-do we have to?"

Smirking at the boy, Kiba asked, "Why, scared of a ghosts?"

Blushing, Naruto lied, "O-of course not! I-I'm just worried that Hoyuki-chan will get scared, that's all!"

"Right…" drawled Kiba who was obviously taking pleasure in Naruto's growing discomfort.

Turning his attention to Hoyuki, Shino asked, "Are you scared of ghosts?"

Shaking her head, despite Naruto's pleading expression to play along with his lie, Hoyuki explained, "No, curious about ghost story."

With his fate now sealed, Naruto silently whined, "T-traitor…!"

"Right, let me gather the other students and we can all tell each other horror stories!"

"No…!"

(Scene Change)

Iruka was grinning at the students who had gathered around the fire as he asked, "Alright, which one of you has a scary story to tell?" It was apparent that Iruka's mischievous side from his old days as a prankster was starting to show.

Naruto, who was a nervous mess, was fearfully expecting a sleepless night when Hoyuki offered, "I have many."

Not expecting Hoyuki's offer to tell a scary story, Iruka and the other teachers then realized to their horror that Hoyuki was referring to the nightmarishly bloody history of her original race. Shino quickly caught on as well as he spoke, "You mean to tell us about your kind, don't you?"

Nodding, Hoyuki asked, "Is it a problem?"

"Well… it's not really a ghost story," said Kiba. While he may no longer see Hoyuki as a monster, her original kin is another matter altogether.

"But it's a scary story so it still counts, right?" asked Naruto. It was apparent that he is less frightened of Xenomorphs than ghosts.

Looking at the other teachers, who more or less begged him not to let her, Iruka sighed and said, "Well, I suppose we can let Hoyuki tell us her story just for tonight." Like it or not, Iruka and the other teachers still have an obligation to the Hokage to obtain any information they can get about the Xenomorphs.

Nodding, Hoyuki said, "Alright…"

(Scene Change)

Dark, evil and scary voice!

When humanity first discovered the Xenomorphs, by discovering an ancient Yautja pyramid which was used to breed them by using sacrificial human hosts, they were divided between those than wanted to exterminate the deadly aliens and those that wanted to enslave them for research, especially bioweapons research. Ultimately, the humans that wanted to enslave the Xenomorphs won humanity's internal struggle for decision. Led by Yutani Cooperation, the humans captured and imprisoned the Xenomorphs for their research in specialized space ports designed to keep any outbreak isolated from humanity's home world.

It is within these space ports where the humans carried out many experiments upon the Xenomorphs, including inhumane ones. Among the tests which humans did upon the Xenomorphs include studying Xenomorph behaviour and intellect, studying Xenomorph-based products such as their hive webbing, corrosive blood and royal jelly, materials testing to create Xenomorph acid-proof equipment, weapons testing to effectively disable or kill Xenomorphs, testing the effectiveness of the humans' war-droids against Xenomorph swarms, studying the mysteries of a Xenomorph's hive-mind and, horrific even by Xenomorph standards, the creation of Xeno-Human hybrid super-soldiers.

Realizing that Xenomorphs can adapt the traits of their hosts into their own genome, the humans attempted to create hybrids by inserting Xenomorph genes into human embryos. The results are ghastly as many of the test subjects usually end up developing abnormal deformities and die from them. After repeated failures, the humans decided to try a second method which is to insert human genes into Xenomorph embryos while still continuing the first project with human embryos. As the Xenomorph embryos are easy to extract from their spider-like carriers, once they had the tools necessary to cut them open despite their corrosive blood, and have better genetic adaptability than their human counterparts, the embryos could theoretically have a better chance of successful hybridization. As predicted, the Xenomorph samples were more successful as they successfully developed into malformed but otherwise living hybrid subjects. However, as the "pureblood" Xenomorphs considered the hybrids as mutations which must be purged, the hybrids had to be kept separate from the imprisoned hives and even each other. Learning from the success of the second method, the humans were able to successfully create hybrids, equally malformed as they may be, with the first method. While weaker than the other type of hybrids, they were noted to be smarter as they are capable of relatively advanced learning.

After studying the two hybrid species and creating more stable hybrids, the humans decided to attempt bringing the "two halves" together, which is basically enforced breeding like cattle. This would prove to be their undoing as the third type of hybrids, the true Xeno-Sapiens, possessed the hive-mind and physical abilities of the Xenomorphs along with the intellect and ingenuity of the humans. Able to somehow make an agreement with the pureblood Xenomorphs and the other types of hybrids, the Xeno-Sapiens broke free from their prisons and killed all the humans inside alongside with their allies. Predicting that the purebloods will try to kill them, the Xeno-Sapiens and their fellow hybrid allies abandoned them to perish in the doomed space port while they proceeded to invade the humans' home world, intent on claiming it as their own.

Most disturbing however is the simple fact that an egg from the doomed vessel was somehow brought to another world, a world where ninjas act as hired mercenaries, law enforcers and even soldiers of war. A world where the egg would hatch to grow and develop into a being similar to the Xeno-Sapiens hybrids in appearance, a being known as Uzumaki Hoyuki…

(Scene Change)

"…And that ends my scary story."

After hearing Hoyuki's tale, made worse by the graphic images she had implanted into their minds via telepathy, many of the students were utterly traumatized. Even the Chuunin teachers, mid-ranked ninjas tasked with the duty of teaching the next generation of ninjas, were horrified as some of the things they saw would make even the members of the Konohagakure's Torture and Interrogation Unit sick. The most disturbing aspect of Hoyuki's story however is the simple fact that that the worst deeds were not committed by the savage Xenomorphs but by the humans of her home universe.

Somehow able to keep himself from retching, Iruka shakily said, "W-well… that is a scary story alright… I think it'd be best if we turn in for the night."

No one bothered to argue against the idea as they went back to their camps and hoped that they would not be assaulted by nightmares. Sadly, for most of the students and teachers, their hopes would be in vain. Ironically enough, Naruto was hardly even disturbed by the story, as he had already heard of it before from Hoyuki. Needless to say, almost no one in their class would ever dare to ask Hoyuki to tell scary campfire stories ever again…

(Scene Change)

Like many of the other students and a number of teachers, Hinata was unable to sleep soundly due to Hoyuki's nightmarish story. Looking at the peacefully sleeping tailed girl who was currently snuggling against her like a puppy, Hinata could hardly believe that she was friends with the most disturbing person she had ever known. True, Hoyuki was already disturbingly odd as an individual back then but Hinata just assumed that it was because she was an alien monster which somehow became human which, while true, barely scratched the surface of the horrors her kind both committed and suffered. Hinata shuddered at the memory of how the humans of Hoyuki's home universe could so callously mistreat the Xenomorphs and even the hybrids, not that she can really blame them for viewing the Xenomorphs as monsters.

Feeling Hoyuki hugging her more closely, Hinata stroked her hair which was somehow calming for both girls. Seeing Hoyuki snuggle against her, Hinata sighed and mused, "No matter how strange and terrifying Hoyuki-chan is, she's still one of my precious people and I won't stop being her friend just because of the memories she remembers from her original race."

Having made her decision, Hinata was able to sleep better as she embraced Hoyuki and quickly dozed off, somehow able to avoid getting nightmares…

(Scene Change)

Meanwhile, in the boys' tent belonging to Naruto's group, the only occupant that was sleeping was Naruto who was snoring with a bubble of snot on his nose. Glaring at the peacefully sleeping blond boy with red-rimmed eyes, Kiba growled, "Remind me to punch him in the nut-sacks the next time he suggests letting Hoyuki tell a scary story." The other three boys and one puppy, unable to sleep due to the story Hoyuki had told them, all nodded in mutual agreement…

(Scene Change)

The following morning was a beautiful one, at least for people that were not sleep-deprived. Loudest to complain were Ino and Sakura as they moaned and groaned at waking up from their restless sleep. Being plagued by nightmares of the Xenomorphs, the hideously malformed hybrids and the inhuman experiments will do that to almost anyone except for a rare few including a certain snake-sage traitor.

Stretching his body, Naruto then grinned and said loudly, "Now this is what I call a beautiful morning!"

"Naruto, SHUT UP!" screeched Sakura.

Naruto instinctively flinched at her infuriated tone and, when he saw her, her terrifying morning appearance with dark rings under her red eyes and wild hair. When he noticed that just about everyone, especially Hibachi, looked equally awful, Naruto knew that it was because of Hoyuki's scary story. When he first heard that story from her, he was unable to sleep for almost two nights straight.

Holding her ears, Ino groaned, "Please, not so loud. You're making my head hurt…"

Sasuke, who was also sleep-deprived, simply glared daggers at Naruto as if to say, "I am so going to hurt you for suggesting that Hoyuki tells us s scary story!"

While it was not the first time Sasuke had suffered insomnia, due to his admittedly traumatic past, it was certainly the first time he felt any actual horror in a long while since then.

Grinning nervously, Naruto said, "Um, bad night?"

"You think?" asked Kiba as he dragged himself out of the tent.

"Hoyuki's story was indeed most disturbing."

Rolling his eyes at Shino's statement, Kiba said, "Understatement of the year."

"That story has several levels and varieties of troublesome…" groused Shikamaru. For the lazy boy, being forced to wake up and do any work while sleep-deprived is most certainly unpleasant.

Rubbing his belly, Chouji said, "Hey, think we can have some breakfast and then go back to sleep?"

Next to appear were the two girls in Naruto's group who obviously fared better than Sakura and Ino. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Hinata sleepily greeted everyone, "Good morning…"

Tilting her head to get a better look at everyone, Hoyuki asked innocently, "Did everyone sleep well?"

Glaring at the tailed girl, Sakura screamed loud enough to actually startle the guards of a neighbouring ninja village called Sunagakure, "Does it LOOK like we slept well?"

Covering her ears from the resounding yell, Hoyuki then looked at the girl, and everyone else who looked just as awful or worse, and felt sheepish as she replied, "No, my bad."

Groaning from the lack of sleep and Sakura's screaming, Iruka turned his attention to Hoyuki and said, "Hoyuki, for the love of the Will of Fire, don't ever tell scary stories ever again."

(Scene Change)

Although almost everyone was sleep-deprived, the survival training for the day continued as normal on the grounds that ninjas would have to be able to functional even when tired. Not surprisingly, the day started off rather poorly for the students and even some of the teachers as they struggled against sleep deprivation. Due to the situation, Iruka prudently requested aid from a nearby team of Konohagakure ninjas to help with the class session while he set off to report about Hoyuki's scary story to the Hokage. Unfortunately, the day just became weirder for the students as a certain pair made their appearance…

(Scene Change)

"Good morning everyone, my name is Might Guy and today I shall be helping your teachers guide you all onto the path of Youth!"

Staring at the man with a shiny-black bowl-shaped haircut, shiny white teeth and the biggest eyebrows the students had ever seen, who is also dressed in a green spandex with a typical Konohagakure jounin vest over it as well as orange-coloured leg warmers, the man known as Might Guy as a shocking sight to the students. Equally shocking was the sight of a boy a year older than the students who looked almost exactly the same as Guy except that he lacked the vest and had smaller but still ridiculously bushy eyebrows as well as round eyes.

Gaping at the sight, Sakura muttered, "This has to be a genjutsu… or a nightmare my sleepy brain came up with…"

"If you're seeing a freaky pair in green spandex, it must be a genjutsu because I'm seeing it too…" said Ino. The two girls then formed a handseal to cast an illusion-cancelling ninja technique, "Kai."

Seeing that the two people had yet to disappear, both girls realized to their dismay and horror that they are indeed real. "What did I ever do to deserve this…?" moaned Sakura.

Blinking at the two newcomers, Hoyuki asked, "Are they… like me?"

Comically horrified, Naruto asked, "Whatever gave you that idea?" Even Shino looked clearly worried.

Pointing at Guy and his apparent clone, Hoyuki elaborated, "Missing link to alien species."

Now understanding what Hoyuki meant, Naruto took a look at the spandex-wearing pair, paying special attention to their bushy eyebrows, haircuts and shiny teeth, and said, "Now that you mention it, I wonder…"

"Now, to begin this beautiful morning, we shall start off with a light warm-up to ignite your Flames of Youth followed by foraging for everything we need to survive this beautiful day!" It was apparent that Guy had no volume control.

"As expected from Guy-sensei!" shouted the young lookalike.

Grinning, Guy gave a thumb's up and said, "Lee!"

Giving his teacher a thumb's up as well, the boy named Rock Lee replied, "Guy-sensei!"

The students could only stare in shock as the morning atmosphere of the forest somehow changed into a sunset at the beach with frothy seawater crashing against the cliffs. Rubbing his eyes, Naruto asked, "How did we end up in the beach?"

Blinking owlishly, Hoyuki said, "Must be genjutsu." Even with the millennia of memories her original kind possessed, across thousands of alien worlds, the sight of the two and their "Sunset of Youth" was one of the strangest things she had ever witnessed.

Slapping his palm onto his face, Shikamaru just knew the day would be awful as he groaned, "Troublesome…!"

While the students were distracted by the "Sunset of Youth", a Hyuuga genin with long dark-brown hair and pale-grey eyes named Hyuuga Neji sighed while a girl with her long dark-brown hair tied into two buns and brown eyes named Tenten rolled her eyes at the sight. Members of a ninja team called Team Guy, the two genin have been exposed to their "eccentric" jounin instructor and genin teammate on an almost daily basis and are thus somewhat used to it although they still find their antics embarrassing.

"Tell me again why we took this mission?" asked Tenten.

"Because almost every parent in the class wanted bodyguards to protect their children from Uzumaki Hoyuki, whom they call the blade-tailed demon, and you wanted to earn an A-ranked pay from completing this multiple D to C-ranked guard duty mission," replied Neji.

As the Hokage lacked both the manpower and interest to assign a team for each child in almost the entire class, he decided to just assign the missions to only one team which just happened to be Team Guy.

Remembering the reason why they took the mission, Tenten sighed and said, "Yeah, I remember now." While not a greedy girl, Tenten appreciated good pay more than either of her teammates as she needed the money to maintain her veritable armoury of hidden weapons.

"Well, it appears that fate has decreed that our team will have to help the academy instructors with the survival training. Might as well as get it over with."

Looking at Neji, who seemed less cold and more open compared to before, Tenten could not help but wonder if it had anything to do with Hinata being with Naruto and Hoyuki. While he may still be "bound to fate", but he seems a little less resentful about it than before and even tried to joke about it, which frankly shocked her silly when she heard it for the first time.

Nodding, Tenten said, "Yeah, and we better stop those two before we get any more spandex-clad ninjas." Both Neji and Tenten shuddered at the thought.

Seeing the approaching pair, Hinata quickly recognized Neji and greeted him, "G-good morning, Neji-niisama."

Like her relationship with her father, her relationship with her cousin, Hyuuga Neji, had improved ever since that day when Naruto and Hoyuki snuck into the Hyuuga compound to defend her. While Neji declined to answer when she asked why, Hinata suspected it had something to do with her father finally confessing to her about Neji's father, Hizashi. Born mere moments after Hiashi was born, Hizashi was damned to live as a member of the branch clan and bore the Caged Bird Seal on his forehead as a result. While initially close, the two brothers drifted apart when Hiashi personally applied the same seal onto Neji and even used the seal against Hizashi when he felt resentful at the fact that Neji will never be able to reach his full potential due to his status as a branch member of the Hyuuga clan. However, despite hating the main branch for his family's cruel fate, Hizashi wanted to make up for his resentment towards Hiashi and his family and thus willingly accepted to die in Hiashi's place during a kidnapping incident known as the Hyuuga Affair. However, Neji never knew of it and thus believed that his father was forced to die in Hiashi's place, making him resentful towards the main branch including Hinata, the victim of the kidnapping by Kumogakure agents. In Hiashi's defence, he never told Neji the truth of the Hyuuga Affair as he felt that the boy would never believe him, a fact which he admitted to Hinata.

Bowing in return, Neji replied, "Hello, Hinata-sama."

As Hinata suspected, Neji did indeed somehow managed to find out the truth when Hiashi confessed to her. While he still resents the main branch and believes that a person's destiny is written in stone, he no longer held resentment towards Hinata or Hiashi, at least not as much as before.

Looking at the sleep-deprived students and teachers, Neji asked, "I assume it has something to do with Hoyuki-san's scary story last night?"

"Y-you could say that." Looking at the girl, Hinata asked, "I-is she your teammate?"

Nodding, Tenten replied, "Yup, my name's Tenten by the way." Glancing at Guy and Lee, she added, "Guy-sensei is our jounin instructor and his younger clone is out third teammate, Rock Lee."

Bowing politely, Hinata greeted Tenten, "I-it is my pleasure to meet you, Tenten-san." Looking at Lee and Guy, Hinata dared to ask, "I-is that why you rarely speak about your team, Neji-niisama?"

Sighing, Neji replied, "That's certainly one reason."

"Ah, there are my two adorable students!" exclaimed Guy. Approaching his two remaining students, Guy looked at Hinata and the rest of the group and said, "And you must be Neji's cousin, Hinata!" Seeing Hinata nod timidly, Guy then turned his attention to Hoyuki who was staring at him and asked, "And you must be Uzumaki Hoyuki whom I had heard so much about recently!"

"Yes." Tilting her head, Hoyuki then asked, "Are you an alien like me?"

After a stunned moment of awkward silence, Guy then wore his grin to reveal teeth which almost blinded everyone with its shine and replied, "No, but I am the handsome Green Beast of Konohagakure and a firm believer in the mighty Flames of Youth!"

Peering at the man, Naruto silently deadpanned, "Right…"

"Anyway, as your team's Flames of Youth is burning the brightest at the moment, I was hoping that you could help gather some food to prepare breakfast." Shaking his head, Guy added, "The other teams are lacking in youthfulness at the moment and would need to eat and rest to bring back the spark of their flames." In layman's terms, Naruto's team appeared the most ready to hunt and gather for food as Naruto, Hinata and Hoyuki are not sleep-deprived unlike the other teams.

Grinning, Naruto said, "Sure, but we could use some help to get enough for everyone." One thing which Naruto learnt from living with Hoyuki is that working as a team is always better than working alone in most situations.

Pleased, Guy said, "Glad to see your Youthful Flames burning bright and early!" Turning his attention to his students, he said, "Alright, you three follow Naruto and his sister to help them gather food. Try to come back as soon as possible as we will need a hearty breakfast to start the day!"

Saluting, Lee said, "Understood, Guy-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Guy-sensei!"

Peering at the two, Hoyuki had to ask, "They do that often?"

"Like you wouldn't believe it…!" groused Tenten.

Eager to get away from the strange duo, well, at least one of them anyway, Naruto loudly said, "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go get some food!" Not waiting for a reply, the blond boy promptly dashed out of camp followed by Hoyuki who obviously shared his sentiment about the two spandex-clad ninjas.

Looking at the two departed children, Lee grinned and said, "Yosh! I shall endeavour to catch up with them and gather more food than they can, failing in which I shall do a thousand push-ups!" Lee then dashed off to follow the two Uzumaki siblings while Neji and Tenten sighed before following him.

(Scene Change)

Naruto and Hoyuki were still busy putting some distance between themselves with Guy when they saw a green blur run past them. Blinking, Naruto asked, "Was that…?"

Nodding, Hoyuki replied, "Bushy-Brows, fast." Lee's speed would be able to easily keep up with hers.

"Lee might be weird but he's the fastest in our team," explained Tenten as she and Neji caught up with them.

Turning around, Hoyuki asked, "Bushy-Brows learn speed from Mega-Brows?"

Initially confused by the odd naming, Tenten snorted as she realized that the tailed girl had just called Lee Bushy-Brows while Guy was called Mega-Brows. After controlling her mirth, which Neji must have felt as well judging from his slight smirk and strained self-control, Tenten said, "You could say that."

"We best continue our search. While I'm not interested in competing with Lee, I'm even less keen to dally while we have a job to do," said Neji.

Nodding, everyone set off to hunt for breakfast…

(Scene Change)

"Naruto, do I even want to know how you and Hoyuki-san managed to find a wild boar this big?" asked Shino. While searching for food, Neji saw the wild boar which Hoyuki promptly decided to kill by first crippling one of its front legs with her bladed tail while she ran around it on all fours followed by leaping onto the thrashing boar and viciously tearing off its throat with her own bare hands. Both Neji and Tenten were horrified by the effective but savagely brutal manner Hoyuki killed the boar, which Naruto claimed was her preferred method to kill large prey.

Still hardly believing that Hoyuki managed to kill a wild boar the size of at least two large men so easily, Neji explained, "I was the one who found it although I am quite curious about it myself."

Shrugging, Naruto replied, "I don't know, we usually find them in a Forest of Death. I'm kind of surprised to see one outside that forest too."

Blinking, Tenten asked, "Wait, you and your sister hunt in the Forest of Death?"

"Lots of good meat there," explained Hoyuki.

Lee, who managed to gather an impressive collection of edible plants, nuts, berries and mushrooms, on the other hand was busy openly admiring the impressive catch despite the fact that he had clearly lost the self-proclaimed competition and the cringe-worthy gaping hole in its throat. Chouji, Kiba and Akamaru were also admiring the catch, albeit for the simple fact that the boar would make an awesome cooking ingredient.

Stretching his arms, Naruto said, "Well, we better get started. The sooner we start gutting it, the sooner we can start cooking and eating it!"

Realizing what Naruto and Hoyuki were about to do, Hinata wisely looked away and busied herself with preparing sliced fruits while the rest curiously watched. Many of them were soon looking away as Hoyuki proceeded to cut the boar's stomach open with her tail, allowing blood and its still-steaming internal organs to flow out of the cut. Reaching into the open wound with her bare hands, Hoyuki then carefully tore off the boar's liver and handed it over to Naruto who then placed it into a clean pot. The tailed girl then took out the boar's stomach and intestines which she quickly carried away to be discarded into a hole she will later prepare, the bloody intestines trailing behind her. Naruto meanwhile reached into the boar to take out its heart and other edible organs while discarding the unwanted organs for Hoyuki to collect and bury along with the stomach and intestines.

Staring at how the two children were efficiently butchering the wild boar, Lee's face was almost as green as his spandex while Kiba swore, "And we now know who we should feel sorry for when they enter the Forest of Death." Akamaru whined in agreement as it hid under Kiba's hood.

Unlike most of the other children, Kiba had seen his clan slaughter animals to be fed to the Inuzuka clan's dogs and as such was used to it, although he never saw them slaughter an animal as large as that boar. Chouji, whose family is well known for their large appetites, also saw his clan slaughter before hence his lack of nausea. Sasuke on the other hand looked away as the blood and gore reminded him of his past which he could not bring himself to forget no matter how much a part of him wanted to.

Adjusting his sunglasses, Shino turned his attention to Hinata and noted, "This would explain why Hinata is looking away right now."

Looking at Hinata, whose back was turned towards the slaughtered animal, Kiba agreed with Shino, "Not that I can blame her."

Working efficiently without paying much attention to the generally sickened onlookers, the two Uzumaki siblings were able to quickly clean and prepare the wild boar for cooking. However, as cooking the boar would take time, everyone would have to wait until lunchtime to eat its cooked pork, not that many people felt hungry after the butchering they witnessed. Those unused to seeing such a sight, including Sakura and Ino, were especially affected as they lost any appetite to eat breakfast. Hinata, who at least had some experience from her first hunting trip in the Forest of Death, was able to bring herself to help Naruto and Hoyuki prepare lunch with pork as the main course. Chouji, who somehow revived from his sleep deprivation at the prospect of eating a delicious lunch, also helped with the cooking while Kiba, Shino and Shikamaru agreed to help with serving the food later as they tried to get some rest in the meantime. Team Guy on the other hand decided to continue helping Naruto's group by helping out with the preparations for lunchtime and gathering more ingredients…

(Scene Change)

Before long, it was time for lunch and, despite the grisly slaughter, everyone was hungry as Naruto's group, with the aid of Team Guy, was able to prepare a sumptuous feast which had many of them drooling. Among the dishes they prepared included roasted pork with crispy skin, pork soup, a fruit and herb salad with honey topping and fried fish. Ravenous, even the fangirls who usually eat very little to maintain a slim figure ate lunch with gusto, somehow momentarily forgetting the memory of how Hoyuki and Naruto butchered the wild boar.

Biting into a piece of roasted pork, Sakura chewed the meat and savoured the fatty flavour as she cried, "I'm so glad they prepared lunch for us!"

Swallowing her mouthful or salad, Ino agreed, "I was actually pretty hungry since yesterday, makes me almost regret dieting on this trip to keep my beautiful figure."

Grinning, Sakura said, "Well, you are piggy so I guess that's expected."

Angry, Ino proceeded to argue with Sakura which led to their typical squabbling.

Happily chewing onto some cartilage, Kiba said, "Man, I wish every meal was this good!" Akamaru, which was busy gnawing into a piece of boar knuckle-bone, yipped happily in agreement while Chouji nodded in full-hearted agreement. Grinning at Naruto, Kiba added, "Makes me kind of jealous of you having Hinata for a girlfriend."

Blushing, especially as an equally embarrassed Hinata was currently sitting closely beside him, Naruto protected, "Hey!"

Smirking, Shikamaru mused, "Relationships sure are troublesome…"

Smiling at the pleasant atmosphere, Iruka, who had returned from making his report said, "Well, don't relax just yet everyone. We still have the rest of today and another night to go before we finally return back home."

"I concur. It would be best to consider our next course of action until we finally return back to our homes," said Shino as he placed down his bowl of salad. Hoyuki meanwhile was eating her pork while sitting beside him.

"Indeed! While we should enjoy this wonderful feast to the fullest, we should nevertheless be prepared to overcome any difficulty that will befall upon us," agreed Guy.

"Yosh, as expected from Guy-sensei to guide us with his youthful wisdom!"

Before the two spandex-clad ninjas could proceed with their "Youthful Routine", Hoyuki quickly shoved her share of pork onto their hands and said in a mildly commanding tone, "Less talk, more eat." It was apparent that Hoyuki was trying to stop the pair from completing their routine, not that anyone can really blame her.

Tenten giggled at Hoyuki's cute attempt while Neji smirked and thought, "Well, it's a good try even though it's fated to fail." True to Neji's word, the two spandex-clad ninjas did their routine anyway, this time including "manly hugs and tears"…

(Scene Change)

Before the children realized it, the third day of the survival trip finally arrived without further incident and they were soon returning back home. Looking at the returning children from his vantage point on the rooftops, Hiruzen asked, "Well, what do you think about Hoyuki?"

Appearing beside the man were three individuals including a masked man with gravity-defying silver hair and a Konohagakure headband covering his left eye while his right eye had a black iris, a man with black hair and beard as well as brown eyes with a smoking cigarette in his mouth, and a young woman with black untamed hair, uniquely red eyes, purple eye-shadow and red lipstick.

The first to speak was the silver-haired man as he spoke, "She is certainly an efficient if brutally savage killer. That wild boar Anko got for us was killed in moments once she decided to make it her meal. Even I would have to be cautious with her if she decides to kill me and I'm locked in a pure taijutsu match with her, especially with that bladed tail of hers."

Nodding, the bearded man added, "She's also disturbingly comfortable with blood and gore. Considering what she remembers from the extended memories of her original species, it's to be expected. That information Iruka got for us from her campfire horror story actually disturbed Inoichi AND Ibiki."

As both men work in the Torture and Interrogation Unit, Yamanaka Inoichi working as a mind-reading interrogator who had delved into depraved minds and Morino Ibiki working as the head of the unit who is a "bit" of a sadist, scaring both men with just a story punctuated with images is quite a feat.

"However, it can be said that despite her "quirks", she is indeed capable of having human emotion. She is friendly, helpful and protective to those who are dear to her although she could have a bit of a vindictive streak if what I heard about her attack on Hibachi means anything. Compared to most of the other girls in her graduating class, she's far more ready for the hard life of a ninja than they are, with Hyuuga Hinata being a notable exception," said the red-eyed woman.

Hearing their assessment, Hiruzen then asked, "So do you believe that she has what it takes to become one of our ninjas?" While Hoyuki's abilities are without question, her reliability as a ninja of Konohagakure also depends on her loyalty to the village as well as her state of mind. Considering her origins, the latter two factors count for a lot.

All three ninjas nodded as the silver-haired man explained, "She's undisputedly loyal to those that deserve her loyalty and I have little doubt that she's human enough to count as one of us regardless of her origins and what she remembers from it." The two other ninjas nodded in mutual agreement.

Pleased, Hiruzen said, "Very well, Hoyuki will be allowed to pass like the other students as long as she passes the basic academy tests like everyone else. You are all dismissed."

As the three ninjas disappeared, Hiruzen gazed at the returning students and smiled as he thought, "May you, your sister and your friends pass this exam with flying colours, Naruto…"

* * *

**How will the shinobi world deal with a ninja alien?**

**What will happen if Hoyuki tells another story?**

**When will I have time to pursue my numerous hobbies?**

**All these questions and more will be answered in the next installment!**

**Until then...Read...Review...watch Resident Evil!**


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